Hi from London.
I’m really disappointed to be back home already. We were gutted after losing against France but we didn’t deserve to go through.
Watching the game from the bench was horrible. I hurt my hamstring in the Russia game and once that happened, I thought my tournament was over.
But then I went back to the hotel and had a scan which came back clear. That gave me hope that I could play a bit more in the tournament. I had it rescanned on that day and showed something. I felt really frustrated that day.
"We can’t say that anyone didn’t try or give their all but France were just better than us on the day and we were well beaten"
Rachel Yankey
Knowing that you can’t play a part to help your team is hard. It meant my job changed and I tried to motivate the girls and build confidence. I thought we’d go into the game firing but it wasn’t to be and it was horrible to watch knowing that there was nothing that I could do.
Everyone knew that we hadn’t been good enough in the tournament as a whole. We made silly mistakes that led us to getting knocked out. For a team that has so much quality, it really isn’t good enough. We can’t say that anyone didn’t try or give their all but France were just better than us on the day and we were well beaten.
My focus now is on trying to get fit again. I’ve got two weeks before our first game after the summer break and I just have to refocus and think about that. The Euros were very disappointing but I’ll go back to the gym on Monday, see the physio and start my rehab programme. Hopefully I will be fit for the Liverpool game.
I certainly still want to play for England. If the manager wants to change and bring younger players in, that’s something that only they can choose. As long as I’m playing to a high standard and well enough to be picked for England or Arsenal, I’ll keep doing that. If I’m picked, I’ll give 100 per cent and do my best to play. If I’m not picked then I’ll do my best to be selected again.
My goal now is to keep winning things with Arsenal and make sure that we start the World Cup qualifiers well in September.
Thanks for reading this over the summer and I hope to see you at an Arsenal Ladies game soon.
Rachel
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