When Funmi Fadoju jumps, the law of gravity seems, for a brief spell, to be suspended. If you didn’t know better, you would be tempted to check the soles of her trainers for some kind of secret spring technology. Or maybe a booster jet.
Witness her first match against Australia, the world champions, last autumn, and the increasingly frustrated look on the face of Donnell Wallam. At 6ft 2in (1.88m), Australia’s goal shooter stood almost half a foot taller than the England goal defence who was marking her. And yet passes that should have gone far above Fadoju were making into her hands.
