DEMI STOKES
Position Left-back | Caps 50 | Goals 1
Which England players did you look up to when you were growing up? Kelly Smith and Rachel Yankey. I also loved to watch Dani Alves, being a full-back. The role has changed a lot over the years and we’re more attacking now. Alves was a big part of that – the way he got forward and created chances broke the mould.
Were you a big England fan as a kid? Of course. Do you remember the reversible England top from 2002? I wore that all the time. If I didn’t want to have it washed, I’d turn it inside out.
You missed out on the World Cup squad in 2015 – how difficult was that for you? You want to be on the world stage and playing in the big games, so I was gutted. But if you talk to most players about their career, they’ll tell you there were setbacks – it’s all part of the journey. I’m definitely looking to make up for lost time, though.
What would England winning the World Cup do for the women’s game at home? It’s moving forward, it’s progressing. You just need to look at some of the games in Spain and Italy over the last few months [Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona had a crowd of 48,000, while Juventus vs Fiorentina got 39,000] – that wouldn’t have happened five years ago. More people are watching and more people are interested. It’ll keep pushing us forward. Even things like Alex Scott being a pundit on Sky and BT; it’s all part of the puzzle and it’s good publicity.
Having been drawn to face Scotland in their opening fixture, England have to be switched on from the off. There can be no easing into this tournament. The Scots have a team filled with top WSL talent that can form a more than competitive starting XI, with Arsenal star Kim Little at its centre.
Argentina, currently ranked 37th in FIFA’S world rankings, are undoubtedly the weakest team in the group, but Japan are still a force to be reckoned with. The 2011 winners and 2015 silver medalists have an exciting mix of youth and experience, and will likely field an XI unrecognisable from the one England beat so comprehensively at the She believes Cup.
The US will be wearing a kit that pays tribute to the ‘99ers’ World Cup-winning side that transformed women’s football in the States two decades ago, and it’s hard to look past the holders defending their title. Their fans are so confident that, of the 750,000 tickets sold for the tournament, by far the biggest share has been snapped up by people across the pond.
There’s also a feeling that – much like their men’s team – hosts France could be finding the right balance in a squad packed with stars at the right time, while Euro 2017 winners the Netherlands, spearheaded by WSL top scorer Vivianne Miedema (below), can’t be written off.
Despite all that, this England team has been cultivating a fear factor and confidence that gives them every chance of mounting a serious challenge. It’s time to get behind them. Every Lionesses game will be on BBC One, while the cleverly crafted celebrity-laden social media squad reveal had a reach in excess of 170m.
England hosts the European Championship in 2021, and big business is now recognising this is becoming a product that will sell. Why? Because it’s really good football, and it’s only getting better and better. England are off to the World Cup. Get ready to get carried away all over again.