CARROT & STICKS
This team can do for women’s football what Rio GB girls did for hockey says ex-skipper
LIONESSES legend Faye White says England should use Great Britain’s gold-winning Olympic hockey side as inspiration for their Euros bid.
England start their European Championship campaign tonight against Scotland in their opening Group D match, before facing Spain and Portugal.
The GB women won their first Olympic hockey gold medal last August, beating defending champions Holland in a dramatic penalty shootout in Rio.
Ex-England skipper White, 39 (above) – who won 90 caps for her country before retiring in 2012 – now wants Mark Sampson’s side to aim high this month.
White says England’s stars have the belief they can do well again after coming third at the 2015 World Cup in Canada.
She said: “In the hockey at the last Olympics, they won it and everyone knows about that team now.
“Success will breed interest and, hopefully, they can go there and use it for inspiration.
“I know the team are going to Holland with the belief they have the ability to get to the final.”
The former defender represented England at four major tournaments, including in the 2009 European Championships when England were runners-up to Germany. The Germans have won the tournament six successive times and remain the team to beat.
But White believes England are now a genuine threat to Germany’s dominance.
She added: “England now have a squad that other teams, such as Germany, will think of as a challenge.
“Previously, they may have thought, ‘Oh, it’s just another game, we’ll go out and win it’.
“But now they will see us as a threat and credible opposition.
“In 2009, we got to the final against Germany. No one expected us to get there and we did lose.
“But last time we played them, we won in the World Cup, in the third-place play-off.
“They will have a different mentality against us if we meet them in Holland.”
White hopes England can get off to a winning start tonight against Scotland, whose best player Kim Little is injured.
She added: “There is that little bit of extra spice with the Scotland game, but we have always been strong enough to beat them.”
Faye White spoke at the launch of Girls’ Football Week – Euro Celebrations, an FA participation initiative aimed at getting girls playing football during the Lionesses’ UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 campaign. To find out more, visit: www.TheFA. com/ForGirls