Barca-bound Duggan out to teach Spanish a lesson
ENGLAND’S first Barcelona striker since Gary Lineker has spent the last few weeks learning the language before her big move. But Toni Duggan isn’t convinced her iPhone app lessons will be of much use when England’s Women look to continue their European Championship charge tomorrow in Breda, Holland. The Lionesses face Spain, the nation their buoyant Scouse striker will call home later this summer. Her team-mates, though, should not expect any new insight on their opponents’ tactical calls. ‘At the moment I can just about say hello and goodbye and that’s about it,’ said Duggan. ‘I can’t even say, “Pass me the ball” or things like that yet — maybe they’re the ones I should be learning! We have a lot of free time to fill in and, to be honest, it’s a nice way to switch off. I’m not too bad at reading but with speaking... I’ve got a bit of a confidence problem with that — going from speaking Scouse to Spanish!’ Duggan, 25, is enjoying a summer that few could rival for big moments. Barcelona signed her from Manchester City earlier this month and, on Wednesday night, she scored her first major tournament goal with England’s sixth against Scotland. If that 6-0 hammering of the Scots is anything to go by, it could get even better. England are already eyeing a path to the final on August 6 but first they face their biggest game of the group stage against an improving and impressive Spain team who beat Portugal 2-0 in their opener. Tomorrow night’s opponents feature 10 new Barcelona team-mates of Duggan’s in their ranks — and a few have been in touch before this one, including captain Marta Torrejon. ‘I had a couple of messages from the Spanish girls, the Barcelona players, which was nice,’ Duggan says. ‘Hopefully we can smash them but we know they have some key players, quite a few of them from Barcelona.’ Duggan’s performance, and her goal, as a substitute against Scotland could earn her a starting spot in Mark Sampson’s team — although it is likely to be out wide with hattrick hero Jodie Taylor retained up front. Sampson is renowned for building bespoke XIs for specific opponents, a move that could help Duggan’s case.