The World Cup tips David Beckham is giving to England star Alessia Russo
Alessia Russo has been spurred on at this World Cup by personal motivation and tips from her lifelong idol David Beckham, who says his daughter Harper describes the England striker as her favourite player.
The former England men’s captain met with Russo prior to this tournament getting under way, for a commercial shoot, but Beckham has kept in touch and showed support as the duo exchanged phone numbers, and he is understood to have sent her a congratulatory text message after she scored the opening goal in England’s group-stage victory over China.
Russo said she was “buzzing” to learn she was Harper’s favourite player and added of meeting Beckham: “It is one of my biggest highlights off the pitch to sit and have a normal conversation with someone who you would watch on the world stage when you were a young girl. It was amazing actually.
“It was a pinch-me moment in terms of what women’s sport nowadays has done. He has been one of my idols ever since I was a little girl. He was really nice.
“It was a completely World Cup-focused conversation, and it was nice not only to hear from him about what he did on the pitch, but how he felt in the moments of the World Cup. He says that it was the biggest highlight of his career. He said that his best and biggest memories were in an England shirt. It is something that you can really relate to.
“He said ‘you should never lose sight of what you guys are doing as a team’. I think sometimes we are always in the moment and all we see and compete for every day is the pitch and training. But there’s an impact away from that and that’s really special to hear.”
David Beckham with a huge thank you for Alessia Russo ❤️
[🎥] @adidasfootball pic.twitter.com/Qb8xTHgWGX— Sky Sports WSL (@SkySportsWSL) July 17, 2023
The two former Manchester United players also exchanged specially-prepared shirts, and on receiving a text from Beckham later in the tournament, Russo added: “It’s just nice to hear that players are following the tournament. For all of us, these are our idols.”
‘There is always a weight on your shoulders playing for England’
Russo has started all four of England’s matches Down Under, and has scored once so far in the campaign. According to Telegraph Sport sources close to the Lionesses camp, England staff have worked extensively with the Arsenal striker on the training ground this week to try and bring her back to form and see her at her best in Saturday’s quarter-final with Colombia. Asked if she has felt more pressure starting matches this summer, having been deployed as a super-sub in 2022’s Euros, Russo replied: “I think there is always weight on your shoulders when you play for your country.
“It is different [starting], but your job is the same and your focus is the same. When I went into the Euros, it was my first tournament and I just wanted to make sure I stayed in the moment and enjoyed every second of it. That’s been my mindset coming into this.”
England have a fully-fit squad for the match at Stadium Australia, with only suspended Chelsea forward Lauren James absent. Head coach Sarina Wiegman said on Friday that England “respect the punishment” from Fifa to ban James for two matches, following her sending off against Nigeria.
Earps: ‘The best is yet to come’ from England
England have conceded just one goal so far in this tournament, and no goals from open play, but they will face a tricky task against confident Colombia, who beat Germany in the group stages.
Lionesses goalkeeper Mary Earps, though, says England have “more gears” they can go to yet, telling a busy pre-match press conference room on Friday: “I really believe the best is yet to come. There’s so much talent in the group and so many more levels that we can go to. We’re not sitting here just happy to be here – we’re not satisfied, we’re not done, there’s still more levels we want to go.
“I have been training with the players every day, seen them personally and have had the privilege of working with them for some time, and I can see the talent in the team day-to-day. I don’t think we’ve been bad by any means but you’ve seen glimpses of what we’re capable of.
“We as a team know and understand where we want to get to. We know we can give more. That’s not to say our efforts haven’t been 110 per cent there and we’ve ground out results – but I think the way we want to dominate games, and go about winning games, we are excited by that challenge as a group to do more. That will come with time, learning and working with each other and gaining experiences and all these things.”
Colombia are the last-remaining side left in the competition from the Americas, following the early exits of Brazil, the holders the United States and the Olympic champions Canada, and they are expected to be backed by tens of thousands of their lively supporters at Stadium Australia on Saturday, with an attendance in the region of 75,000 anticipated overall.
