Birmingham City midfielder Jade Moore can’t wait to get to Wembley this Sunday ahead of England’s historic match against Germany.
By Glenn Lavery / thefa.com
It is the first time the ‘Lionesses’ will have played at Wembley since it re-opened in 2007 and the 24-year-old cannot wait to emulate her namesake Bobby in front of a bumper crowd.
England take on the European Champions on Sunday (3pm KO) and the match is live on BBC Two, with coverage starting at 2.45pm.
Moore said: “Playing Germany in any game at any venue would be special but the fact it’s at Wembley and that we’ve sold so many tickets just adds to the whole occasion.
“It’s exciting, it’s something we’ve never done before and to have that many people coming to watch just increases your desire to want to be a part of it. We need to put on a performance for all the fans that are coming to watch. But we’re looking at that as a positive pressure.”
With 55,000 tickets sold for the match, Moore says it is testament to the progress the group has made in recent years. She said: “When Mark first came in he told us he wanted to get more fans behind us, more fans coming to our games.
“He wanted to one day get to a crowd of 25,000 and we’ve done that. That’s credit to all of us, the players and the staff for raising awareness of the game.”
If selected for the Germany game, it will be the first time Moore has ever graced the hallowed turf – but it will not be her first experience of Wembley.
In 2009, she was a key member of the U19s squad that won the European Championship for the first time. By way of congratulations, Mo Marley’s triumphant players were invited to the stadium to parade their trophy to the 76,000 fans that had come to watch Fabio Capello’s senior team defeat Belarus 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier.
Moore added: “That was the first time I’d ever been to Wembley. It was a great event and great to see the stadium. To see all those fans clapping us and cheering us was really special. It meant a lot to us all.
“But back then I didn’t ever expect to one day be potentially playing there against a big team like Germany.”
She started three of England’s final five World Cup qualifiers and her typically energetic displays helped achieve victories over Ukraine, twice, and Belarus. She said: “The first step for me was getting a starting place. I’d come off the bench quite a lot for England but once I got that first start it settled me down a bit and allowed me to play my game.
“I really enjoyed being able to help the team qualify for the World Cup. But now it’s about Germany, and this is a game we’d all love to be a part of.”
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