Midfielder says England can collect three crucial Euro qualifying points on Sunday
England v Holland
UEFA European Women's 2013 Championship
Group 6 Qualifier
5.15pm, Sunday 17 June 2012
Salford City Stadium
Buy tickets for England v Holland online or simply call the Salford City Stadium Ticket Hotline on 0844 888 0200
You can read more from Fara in the official matchday programme
After joining an illustrious band of players on 100 England caps, Fara Williams is now keen to make her eleven-year association with the national team count for something.
For Williams, two World Cup quarter-final appearances and a silver medal at Euro 2009 will be scant reward for the marked progress England have made in the last decade. The midfielder wants the Three Lions to put themselves on the map.
“I want to win something with England before I retire and I’m sure a lot of the girls feel the same.” she said.
“The women’s game has really moved on since I made my debut in 2001. There is so much in place within the England set-up that wasn’t there when I first came into the squad and it has only benefitted us in getting to European Championship Finals and quarter finals of World Cups.
“But now we want to go that bit further and actually lift a trophy. We have definitely got the talent.”
However, before Williams and her team-mates can even contemplate European glory, they must first qualify for Sweden 2013 and that means getting a win against Holland on Sunday.
The 28-year-old played in the 0-0 draw between the sides last October, missing a 50th-minute penalty which could have handed England all three points, but Williams has put that spot-kick out of her mind and is fully focused on making amends.
“This is a game I expect us to win,” she said, bullishly.
“When we played them last time, we sat off them in the first half and showed them too much respect. They got at us and were probably the better team in the opening 45.
“The second half was a different game,” continued Williams. “We got amongst them and we were the better side. If I’d have scored the penalty we probably wouldn’t be coming into this game needing a win, but it’s done now.
“That was a game we could have won and probably should have won, even though we were out of season.
“The qualifiers we have played so far have been difficult because we were out of season, so we had to really work hard to keep our fitness levels up. This game is probably coming at the right time for us, though, because we are in the middle of our season and we are match fit.”
Tickets for the crucial clash against Holland are on sale now, priced just £5 for adults and £2.50 for concessions. U12s will be free when accompanied by an adult and wheelchair users will pay £2.50, carer will go free