Belgium’s Janice Cayman says qualifying for Euro 2017 is ‘really big’ for women’s football in her country after they reached their first major tournament this week… WRITES KIERAN THEIVAM.
The Western New York Flash midfielder and her teammates, who qualified after they defeated Serbia away from home on Thursday, before seeing Finland lose to Portugal a day later, come up against England on Tuesday with the pressure off, and a chance of adding the icing on the cake by topping the group.
Speaking to She Kicks before the Serbia game, Cayman admitted that the team would be able to relax a little more, if they beat the Serbs.
She said: “If we don’t win against Serbia it means a lot of pressure to get a result against England, but we showed in the first game we can play well against them, so you never know in a game of football – anything can happen.”
Cayman has fond memories of her team’s 1-1 draw against Mark Sampson’s side in April, scoring at the New York Stadium in Rotherham following an uncharacteristic error from Karen Bardsley.
It was the first goal England had conceded in a home qualifier in 14 years, with Jill Scott levelling late on to tie up the match.
While her goal was fortuitous, Cayman was pleased she was able to capitalise.
She said: “It’s always awesome to score for your country, but the goal was unexpected and it was unfortunate for the English team, but I took advantage of that – that’s football.”
Tuesday’s game in Leuven, which sits just outside Brussels, presents a stern test for Cayman and her teammates, with England having scored 19 goals in their last three games.
But the 27-year-old is confident her team can create history, and go into their first major tournament off the back of a positive result.
“The game against England is huge and we’re expecting a big crowd, so hopefully we can break some records,” she said.
“If we start the game like we did in England, I think it’s going to be interesting, but they know how we play, so it’s going to be hard all around.
“I think in the end, it’s going to be the team that takes their chances that ends up winning the game.”
