With her razor-sharp finishing and infamous goal celebration, Ellen White is one of the most renowned characters in the women’s game.
The 28-year-old has an enviable medal collection, 74 England caps and nine goals for Birmingham City this season.
And in the first of what will become a regular column, White discusses this weekend’s Women’s Champions League semi-finals, featuring Manchester City and Chelsea, England’s last two matches and Girls’ Football Week (23-29 April).
UEFA Women’s Champions League
Manchester City v Lyon (1pm, Sunday 22 April)
This is a big game between two big teams.
Man City are obviously a great side even though their form has been a bit indifferent of late. But there’s probably no bigger game to regain your form than a Champions League semi-final.
City will no doubt be expecting a tough match; Lyon are a very, very good side with some unbelievable attacking players.
Lyon are so strong that they will probably fancy their chances of scoring a goal or two at City to take into the second leg – but I’m sure City won’t want to let that happen.
My England team-mate Lucy Bronze will be lining up for Lyon and it might be strange for her to be playing against her former club. She is one of the best defenders around and has settled in really well at Lyon, as we all knew she would. And with Lucy being at Lyon it means there will definitely be some English representation in the final which is great.
I’m expecting the first leg to be really close and I think it will be up for grabs in the second leg in France.
Chelsea v Wolfsburg (6.05pm, Sunday 22 April)
I’m really looking forward to this game – and not just because I love German football!
Chelsea have been in great form all season and will have home advantage in the first leg. They are strong in every department and there’s almost no let-up with them.
But Wolfsburg are Wolfsburg and they know how to win these big games. They’ve got a bit more Champions League experience than Chelsea so it will be interesting to see whether that counts.
I think this will be another close game with plenty to play for in the second leg.
I’m licking my lips at the prospect of an all-English Champions League final…!
England top of the tree
We picked up four points from our last two World Cup qualifiers and we can take a lot from them.
Both Wales and Bosnia sat back and defended well, and while we couldn’t break Wales down, Toni Duggan and Jodie Taylor popped up and got us the win in Bosnia.
We know that more teams will put players behind the ball when they play us and we are working on how to break these teams down more often. That said, I thought the Wales goalkeeper played really well and deserved to be player of the match.
But we’re now top of the group which is where we want to be and there’s plenty to learn going into the Russia game in June.
Girls’ Football Week
I love any excuse to play the game so things like Girls’ Football Week are great.
We always want to get more players into the game so I’d encourage anyone to get involved.
The most important thing is that players enjoy themselves. Football is a fantastic sport but it’s obviously more fun when you enjoy it.
Next week is a chance to play football, have fun and make new friends – so I’d say just go for it!
Players: To take part in a Girls’ Football Week event near you, visit TheFA.com/GirlsFootballWeek
Organisers: To host an event for Girls’ Football Week visit FAGirlsFootballWeek.com
