Grace Clinton The Debutant & WWC23 $1.3BN Impact
This week we’ve got a mix of interviews, guides and news for you. From Grace Clinton, our one-to-watch, to Football Australia’s announcement of the Women’s World Cup’s $1.3 Billion economic impact on the Australian economy.
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• Grace Clinton's dreamy debut
• Ann-Katrin Berger on cancer and comebacks
• How to tell cheap and expensive football boots apart
• More ACL hell for Chelsea
• What we're watching this week
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT
Grace Clinton's dreamy England debut
Tottenham Hotspurs' Grace Clinton is among the brightest young talents in English women's football. She's a dynamic, hard-working midfielder with excellent technical ability, vision, and superb passing range, which all suggests a player with the potential to become a regular fixture in the England senior squad for years to come.
Clinton made a perfect start to her senior debut against Austria last week, scoring in the 19th minute. After the match, she said, “Sarina told me at the start of the week that she was going to try me in the eight, so I'm open to a challenge. It's really nice to be deeper and get on the ball more; that's what I want to do, so to be in there playing with G [Georgia Stanway] and Tooney, you know, they really helped me out a lot.” Watch Clinton's reaction to her England debut in full.
Sarina Wiegman says – "She plays like a natural. She wants to have the ball. She picks up the things we talk about very quickly and that's what you see on the pitch too."
Alex Greenwood says – "She's a great kid, really energetic, wants to learn and is always asking questions, which I love about her. She takes criticism really well and wants to improve… I think she's a really good midfielder on the ball and makes good runs into the box. She's an intelligent footballer and it's exciting that she still has so much to work on actually."
INTERVIEW | FROM THE ARCHIVES
Cancer, comebacks and call-ups
In November 2017, goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger was dealt the devastating news she had cancer. Five months later, she was named in the PFA Team of the Year. Here’s her story in her own words.
If anyone reading this is going through it, all I would recommend is to stay focused on what you want to achieve, who you’re doing it for and what you’re going to do afterwards. – AKB
FAVE FINDS
TWEET OF THE WEEK
WATCHLast season, everyone wondered what was in the water at Arsenal, as Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema suffered ACL injuries a matter of weeks apart. If you’ve not watched it, Step by Step, a five-part documentary, follows their recovery. Mead and Miedema team up with leading experts to explore the reasons behind the concerning trend of ACL injuries in the women’s game. Watch episode one here.
KNOWLEDGE
Guide: What’s the difference between cheap and expensive boots?
Last week, we shared our guide to choosing the right boot for the type of pitch you play on. Now we look at the biggest question of them all… how much do you really need to spend on a pair of football boots, and what do you get for your money anyway? If you’ve not heard of football boot tiering and can’t tell an Elite boot from a club boot or a .2 from a .3, (or if that whole sentence made utterly no sense), then this is the quick guide you need in your football boot buying life. Check out last week's guide here.
NEWS
In Case you Missed it… Bayern Munich have signed Lena Oberdorf (22-year-old German International defensive midfielder) for around £450k. She’ll join them from the end of the season until June 2028. The bit that’s got our attention… she currently plays for rivals VfL Wolfsburg, who are just a point behind Bayern in the Frauen-Bundesliga - awkward. 23 March is when they’ll go head to head - one to watch out for!
A.C.HellFirst, it was Sam Kerr, now Chelsea Women have lost another key player this week as Mia Fishel suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). It's the chaser Emma Hayes absolutely did not need after Chelsea's home loss against Man City the week before, leaving them level on points at the top of the WSL.
WEEK AHEAD - WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
Tuesday 27 Feb | International friendlies
17:00 - England v Italy19:30 - Republic of Ireland v Wales
Tuesday 27 Feb | UEFA Nations League
19:00 - Northern Ireland v Montenegro (Agg 2-0)
Wednesday 28 Feb | UEFA Nations LeaguePlay-offs | 17:30 - Sweden v Bosnia and Herzegovina (Agg 5-0)
Third Place Play-off | 19:45 - Netherlands v Germany
Final | 18:00 - Spain v France
Saturday 2 Mar | Women's Super League
12:00 - Manchester City v Everton Women
Sunday 3 Mar | Women's Super League
12.30 - Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur
14:00 - Aston Villa v Liverpool
14:00 - Bristol City v Brighton & Hove Albion
15:00 - West Ham United v Manchester United
18:00 - Leicester City v Chelsea
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