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Women's Football Phil Neville: ‘We’re going to enjoy that moment because you know we’ve dreamt about it all our lives’

#BeReady was the new-look “brand” The FA were promoting as they announced the 23 players who would represent England at the eighth Women’s World Cup in France but most were caught unaware by their innovative use of social media to release the player’s names, using celebrities from Raheem Sterling and David Beckham to pop stars like Ellie Goulding and Olly Murs. 

Over four hours, the names were released one by one which included 12 of the 23 players who won Bronze medals in Canada four years ago.

England manager Phil Neville said that emails had been sent to the 23 players selected at 8am the previous morning. The 13 other players he has called upon during his reign who did not make the final cut were informed by telephone. 

All of them are included on his standby list and could be brought in as a replacement for an injured player up to 24 hours before the team’s first match in the tournament against Scotland on Sunday June 9.

With vice-captain Jordan Nobbs long since ruled out since November with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, Isobel Christiansen was the highest-profile omission from Neville’s squad.

The Olympique Lyonnais midfielder, who has earned 31 caps since the last World Cup, resumed training on Monday nine weeks after undergoing ankle surgery and may yet feature in this season’s Champions League Final in Budapest. 

Neville admitted that she was “devastated” to hear that she had not been selected. 

“I don’t think I’ve seen a player work as hard trying to get fit for the World Cup. I’ve got to say, she’s done everything that we’ve asked of her. She’s virtually lived at St George’s Park for the last eight weeks. She’s sacrificed everything in her life to get to this point. 

“She would have been fit to go to a World Cup and the selection for Izzy is purely based on performance. The performance of the other players that took their opportunities in midfield. It was a tough decision.”

Elsewhere, Karen Carney and Jill Scott made England history as the first women to be selected in four different World Cup squads a feat only previously achieved by Bobby Charlton.

Charlton did not feature in one of those tournaments so either of the Lionesses midfielders could become the first England footballer to play in four different finals. 

Carney seems certain to extend the record she set two years ago at the Women’s Euros by becoming the first England footballer in history to play in eight different major tournament finals. 

“It is a fantastic achievement,” said Neville. On Carney he added that “her influence off the pitch is fantastic. Jill I think has scored more goals for me than any other player. Her influence on the team in terms her of character is great. They are there on merit, they’re not there because they’ve got experience.”

On their opener against Scotland, Neville added: “It’s where we want to be and it’s what we’ve always wanted. The big occasion, full house … Nice … Scotland. 

“Millions watching back home on the BBC. You speak to those senior players, they will say: ‘This is what we dreamt about when we went to those park pitches, when we had no balls, when we had no coaches. We wanted to get to this stage in women’s football.’

“Now we’re here, we can’t be fearful of it. We have just to charge forward. That’s my philosophy, that’s the philosophy of the team. By God when we get to Nice, we’re going to enjoy that moment because you know we’ve dreamt about it all our lives.”

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