Nobbs delighted to switch off TV role after Neville recall
Jordan Nobbs wants to remind fans of her talent on the pitch rather than the television studio when England face Brazil tomorrow.
The Arsenal midfielder, who ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament 10 months ago, is in the squad to play the South Americans in Middlesbrough before travelling to face Portugal next Tuesday.
Injury ended her World Cup hopes and the former England vicecaptain, 26, instead worked as a TV analyst. “After I was with the BBC, I’d be going into services and people were like, ‘Oh, you do punditry’ and I’m like, ‘No, I play football,” she said. “That’s obviously what I was [at the World Cup] but I’ve kind of flung the mic now. But I did really enjoy it and I can’t thank the BBC enough because they did get me through a difficult time.”
She is resuming her England duties when her team are in need of inspiration. The post-world Cup “hangover”, as coach Phil Neville put it, set England on a stuttering start to the new cycle. In August, they squandered a two-goal lead to draw with Belgium and then lost to Norway last month after going ahead.
As they go into their next run of friendlies, starting with a sold-out fixture at the Riverside Stadium and then against Portugal at the Estadio do Bonfim, the squad has felt a lift. “The atmosphere has been great, more so this camp,” Chelsea’s Bethany England, who received her first senior call-up in August, said. “It’s settled more. After the World Cup, the first camp back is always going to be a bit tense.”
She said Nobbs’s very vocal and “hands-on” role had been felt immediately. With Olympic qualification secured at the World Cup, Neville is now also scouting out his Team GB squad for next summer in Tokyo. With just 18 spots and added competition from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland players, the England contingent will need to prove their worth.
“It would be incredible,” Nobbs said of the prospect of making her Olympic debut. “The last Olympics, I was in the longlist squad. Being part of Team GB is my goal.”
Nobbs scored from her first touch in her comeback match, a pre-season friendly against Tottenham, and has six matches and one goal under her belt with the Women’s Super League leaders.
Despite that and the experience of 56 caps, Nobbs was not expecting the call-up from Neville so soon. That she could potentially play her first match for the Lionesses in almost a year so close to her home town of Stockton-on-tees is, to her, poignant: “I first got picked for England at 12 years old at Middlesbrough, so it was kind of fate. ”