VIDEO: Jill says relax
Sunday, 03 July, 2011
Jill Scott and Hope Powell call for calm in England camp.
Click here to watch the full interviews with Hope Powell and Jill Scott
The England Women’s National Coach, Hope Powell, and midfielder Jill Scott both hope Friday’s victory over New Zealand will allow the Three Lions to relax into the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
England opened with a 1-1 draw against Mexico, but failed to capitalise on their first-half dominance. Against the Kiwis they fell behind to Sarah Gregorius’ 18th minute goal and they were still trailing up to the hour mark. However, an equaliser from Scott and a second from Jess Clarke gave Powell’s side their first win of the tournament and it leaves them needing just a point against Japan on Tuesday to seal qualification to the quarter finals. A win would mean they top Group B.
“I’m delighted that we won the game,” Powell told FATV.
“We haven’t quite hit the mark yet, we know that. You have to give credit to the teams in the tournament. Every game is a tough game, it feels like we’ve been in a battle, so we just have to keep our composure and hopefully we can relax a little bit and start to enjoy it and then hopefully express ourselves a little bit more.”
Scott, who has been keeping a video diary of England's World Cup adventure, reiterated her coach’s comments.
“I think it will just take a little bit of pressure off us, really,” she concurred. “We’ve said that we need to start enjoying playing our football and enjoying the whole experience. We feel like we’ve been under a bit of pressure and maybe that showed.
“I think now it’s [about] building on [the performance against New Zealand] going into the Japan game.”