Given the pressure on Alessia Russo’s shoulders right now, she might cast her mind back to a chat she had with David Beckham ahead of the World Cup.
The two met on a shoot with Adidas and, for Russo, there could be no one better to speak to about dealing with the scrutiny of playing at a major tournament, knowing Beckham experienced it all with England during a career in the spotlight.
Russo is under her own scrutiny now, as England prepare to face Colombia in their quarter-final on Saturday,
The striker has scored just one goal at this tournament and must now cope without having Lauren James supplying her, with the Chelsea forward suspended after her red card against Nigeria. The pressure is on Russo, who starred for England off the bench at Euro 2022 last summer, to deliver.
“I think there is always weight on your shoulders when you play for your country,” she says. “It is different, but your job is the same and your focus is the same. The Euros was my first tournament and I just wanted to make sure I stayed in the moment and enjoyed every second of it. That’s been my mindset coming into this.
“It was a completely World Cup-focused conversation [with Beckham], and it was nice to not only to hear from him about what he did on the pitch, but how he felt in the moments of the World Cup. He says that it was the biggest highlight of his career, a moment that he will never forget. He said that his best and biggest memories were in an England shirt.
“It is something that you can really relate to. It was amazing. He was really nice. It was a pinch-me moment in terms of what women’s sport nowadays has done.”
Russo is not the only England player to struggle at this World Cup, and the Lionesses are yet to really hit their stride in Australia.
Other than their 6-1 win over China in the group stage, in which Russo excelled, England have lacked goals, and head coach Sarina Wiegman will be considering all her options.
Beth England is pushing to start in place of Russo, while Ella Toone is another hoping to come back in after not starting since the opening game against Haiti. Wiegman, however, has often shown loyalty to players and she seems likely to stick with Russo.
The Arsenal striker can act as a focal point and, with Georgia Stanway possibly pushing forward as the No10, and Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp out wide, the Lionesses will hope to find form.
England have rotated formations at this World Cup, alternating between a back three and four, and a switch to their usual 4-2-3-1 seems likely on Saturday.
The main beneficiary of a 3-4-1-2 set-up was James, who is suspended for the next two games, while 4-2-3-1 brings the best out of Keira Walsh.
“We don’t make a plan to surprise Colombia,” said Wiegman. “We make our plan. We have our style, our analysis of Colombia and we make our plan. At this tournament we have seen that no game is easy.”
Saturday’s game is a sell-out, with more than 70,000 fans expected at Stadium Australia here in Sydney. The vast majority will be in Colombia colours, due to a large expat community here and thousands who have travelled.
“I think, in general, every World Cup game you absolutely relish playing in,” said goalkeeper Mary Earps. “I think this level is full of heat and pressure, and all those emotions that come with it, and I think that’s exciting as a player.”
