Kelly Smith knows a thing or two about scoring goals.
The former England striker’s 46 goals for country have only been bettered by Ellen White. In the Arsenal shirt, she sunk her teeth into defences without care, scoring a whopping 125 goals in 144 appearances across two spells with the Gunners, even helping them achieve a historic domestic and European treble in the 2006/07 campaign.
She’s the woman who kissed her boots in China and has supplied years worth of Best Of YouTube montages from her days of rampaging.
In short, Smith knows goals. And she definitely knows good ones.
So when Smith can recall her exact reaction to Alessia Russo’s no-look-backheel-nutmeg-filth against Sweden during last summer’s European championship semi-finals, it’s worth noting.
“What Alessia is particularly good at is her quick thinking. No one is going to expect you to do that. She’s very creative, confident,” the former England international reflects while at the finals of the 2023 Pokémon Futsal Youth Cup by England Football, an initiative aimed at evolving the football skills of boys and girls in the U10s, U12s, U14s and U16s age groups.
“The manner of the goal, the confidence to do that, especially as at that time she wasn’t starting matches, she was coming on more for impact.
"I just put my hand over my mouth, thinking how cheeky," Smith says.
Smith touts plenty of goals under the header of cheeky . Her 45-yard lob against Russia in the Euro 2009 quarter-finals certainly so, not that Smith indulges comparisons between her playing days and those set to play out in front of us.
“They have so much more football to play,” she says when asked if Russo, 24, or any current young Lioness has what it takes to potentially crack her or White’s England goal-scoring record. “They’re still so young, and I don’t think any of them will be thinking about records at this point in their careers.”
A starting place in Sarina Wiegman’s England squad at this summer’s Women’s World Cup is more likely gripping the players’ minds, and nowhere is the spotlight more fierce than in the striker’s position.
Rachel Daly received the nod in a goalless send-off draw against Portugal earlier this month, but Russo's introduction in the second-half for the Aston Villa star offered an attacking flair that was difficult to ignore.
“We know what Russo brings to the table in terms of her goals, her energy but it’ll be interesting to see if she actually starts,” Smith says.
“I think Rachel Daly has been in sensational form in the WSL this season, getting the Golden Boot, she’s full of confidence, so I think she’ll probably start going off the back of that.”
The absence of forwards Beth Mead and Fran Kirby, as well as captain and centre-back Leah Williamson, are the inescapable talking points heading into the tournament.
The loss in calibre is obvious, so too the major tournament savvy in a squad where 15 players will descend on Australia and New Zealand without prior World Cup experience.
But Smith maintains the opportunity for a new star to write her name into the history books is tantalising.
“Teams might be thinking to themselves England are going to be weakened, but I don’t see it as that,” Smith says. “Those players are now given the opportunity to show they’re worthy of the shirt. I played my first World Cup in 2007 and really took it with both hands and that’s where I made my name," Smith continues.
“So now this is the time for those younger players to do that, to take it by the scruff of the neck and become a star. You want to get on the scoresheet as a striker, make your name and get that limelight.”
The challenge has arguably never been greater to do so. This year’s World Cup is billed to be the most competitive and dramatic iteration yet, the margins for error shrunk to near millimetres.
That England are considered one of the favourites heading into this space is telling of exponential growth not just in the last year but over the last decade.
It was nearly 25 years ago that Smith bullishly proclaimed that “women’s football in England is a joke”, opting to remain in the USA to ply her football trade than return across the Atlantic.
Smith remains tempered when asked what heights women’s football in the UK can reach. More matches held at larger stadiums is a start, she says, as is increasing the number of young girls through turnstiles and onto training pitches.
Smith believes the Pokemon Futsal Youth Cup is an area that can help accomplish this. The small-sided games played as a young girl honed her technique and provided the foundation, and passion, from which her prominence rose to extraordinary heights.
“I loved playing small-sided games growing up, it really honed in my competitiveness too and my ability,” she says. “I was always trying to twist and turn and be creative and I think futsal allows those players to do that.
“It’s a smaller space, the first touch you have to keep the ball so close to you, be able to manoeuvre in tight areas. It’s smaller numbers too - it’s not a big field where players are kicking the ball down field and you’re barely getting touches or on the ball.
"The opportunities to build confidence and self-esteem are endless and [Pokemon Futsal] is a fantastic tournament helping to do this.”
- Kelly Smith was speaking at the finals of the 2023 Pokémon Futsal Youth Cup by England Football. To find out more about this year’s competition head to mastertheball.com
