Manchester rivals but England teammates Ellie Roebuck and Mary Earps have a special, yet unique bond. While United goalkeeper Earps has somewhat stolen the spotlight after being awarded the FIFA Best award and helped carry England to European victory with four clean sheets, letting in only two goals in the entire tournament, City's Roebuck has been closely in tow.
The goalkeeper union during international camp is something awe-inspiring, as the Manchester rivals leave it all at the door of St. George's Park. “We are good friends,” Roebuck started. “People always think that goalkeepers don't get on like they hate each other but no."
The 23-year-old took a moment before realising, “And as City and United as well I forgot about that,” She laughed and continued. “But that's the thing when you come here you just leave everything like that at the door.
“For me, I’ve worked with Mary for a long time and since I came on to the international scene I've worked with her and she's had moments where she's not been in the squad and I've had moments where I've not been in the squad and we've kind of both been in each other's shoes a little bit.”
City’s number one has paid her dues and stepped up to represent the nation 11 times with six clean sheets, compared to Earps’ 33 caps and 21 clean sheets. But the pair are happy to work off one another, edging each other to reach new heights. She added: “There's nothing but respect there and we will push each other constantly. That will never change and I think whoever plays will always want each other to do well which is a really nice thing to have.”
But when asked if she has been on the receiving end of a jokester-Earps prank so far in this pre-World Cup camp, Roebuck admitted, amusedly: “No not me, she knows better because I serve her on a daily basis so she knows better than to play that on me.
“But she's a great character, good energy and I really enjoy training alongside her.”
