England take on Germany in the final of the 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championships this weekend.
The nation will be watching with anticipation on Sunday (July 31) as the Lionesses try to do what the men's team failed to do last year by winning the prestigious quadrennial tournament - and two towns in Greater Manchester that will be keeping even keener eye on proceedings are Tyldesley and Rochdale.
Although the likes of Alessia Russo and Beth Mead have stolen the headlines with their goals throughout the competition, Keira Walsh's performances at the heart of midfield have really given the team a platform to progress. The Rochdale-born player has played all but four minutes of England's games so far - only bettered by teammates Leah Williamson and Mary Earps, as well as France's Wendie Renard and Pauline Peyraud-Magnin.
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Walsh, 25, has also registered two assists and has an incredible passing accuracy of 90.2pc. In her younger days, she played for local side Pearson Juniors, before getting onto the books of Blackburn Rovers.
Her Manchester City-mad family then convinced her to move to the club in 2014 and she has since gone on to make more than 100 league appearances, scoring six goals. For England, Walsh's international career incredibly started when she was just 12 - being called up as the youngest member of the U15s team.
For the senior team, she has made 44 appearances since her first call-up in 2017. She was part of the squad that won the SheBelieves Cup in 2019 and also helped the Lionesses get to the semi-final of the World Cup later that year.
Greater Manchester's other Lioness has not started any of the games so far but certainly scored one of the most important goals in the tournament. Ella Toone, of Tyldesley, scored the equaliser in the quarter final against Spain, when it looked as though England may be crashing out.
Throughout the competition, the attacking midfielder has acted as an important impact player coming off the bench, and has registered an assist as well as her crucial goal. The 22-year-old Manchester United playmaker attended Fred Longworth High School and Wigan and Leigh College - where she studied Sport Science.
As a youngster, she played for Astley and Tyldesley FC. Club director and girls' coach Lorraine Warwick-Ellis spoke about how much of an inspiration she has been.
She told the Manchester Evening News: "Everybody who saw her play when she was younger knew she was going to do well. Nobody envisioned she'd be like this though, she's been incredible this tournament and she's going to get better and better and better.
"We're immensely proud of her. All the girls look up to her as well. She's like the next Ronaldo for them.
"We were there [when she scored]. It was amazing. She kept us in it. I think we can do it. Sweden was the stickler really, the test. If we beat them, I think we can do it.
"We'd love to have her down at the club after the tournament if she's not too busy. She's always been brilliant with the local area and been approachable when we've done things in the past."
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