Esme Morgan says that the Lionesses want to add a World Cup to their trophy cabinet after two successive Euros triumphs.
Ahead of England’s upcoming friendlies, the Washington Spirit defender spoke to the media about how the squad were already thinking about the next major trophy they could win.
“The World Cup is the absolute pinnacle,” said Morgan. “Everyone wants to be able to look back on their career and say that they’ve won that.
“Definitely with this squad that we have, everyone is so competitive and has such a desire to win – that’s something that we’re so used to, football being a cycle of you do something, you put it to bed, you move on to the next thing, that’s how we live. It’s only natural now that we look at the next major thing which is going to be the World Cup in Brazil and turn our focus to how we can best get there and be prepared to be at our best there to win.”
Morgan: A lifelong City fan
England face Brazil at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, and Morgan is looking forward to being back at Manchester City – the club where she spent her youth years and began her senior career.
“It’s very exciting for me being a lifelong City fan,” she said. “It should be a great occasion. It’s a special time for us to be able to come back and be in front of our fans again and celebrate what we did over the summer with those who possibly couldn’t have got out to Switzerland themselves, so we want to carry on the joyful feeling that the summer created, put in some good performances, hopefully get some good results, and just keep that happy momentum going.”
And she added that the Lionesses were reminded of their successful summer with some new displays and artwork around St George’s Park, where they are currently in camp ahead of the weekend’s match.
“Even just then, walking through the main entrance and seeing the trophies with the picture of the lift behind it just brings a smile.
“It’s really nice to see everyone and be able to reminisce over fun little moments that we had, mostly away from the pitch is what sticks out, but it’s nice to catch up and be able to enjoy and celebrate what we achieved.”
Esme Morgan: It was a comeback down to earth
Morgan did not get much chance to celebrate the win in the summer, as she returned to the Spirit for NWSL matches, flying back the day after the victory parade through London.
“Going from being on a bus in front of 65,000 people down the Mall to just feeding my cat again was a swift comeback down to earth,” she admitted.
She went on: “Post-tournament there’s a little bit of a comedown because you’ve achieved a dream. Certainly I felt that going back to club a little bit was wow, it’s hard to want to keep going and going again when you’ve achieved something so much, but then you re-find the hunger to want to win because it’s such an infectious feeling.
“So already now our focus is shifting to the World Cup.”
