Jill Scott and Kyle Walker were joined by Esme Morgan to discuss how she’s finding life in Australia and her first major tournament at Lionesses: Down Under connected by EE.
ESME MORGAN
On the new team base:
“I really like it. We’ve had a little bit of downtime today, so it’s been really nice to get out and have a bit of a wander around. It’s so lovely down at the beach, although the water looks a bit cold and choppy. When we all walked in yesterday, we were gazing round with our jaws on the floor. I love the little book corner; they have some great books in there. The darts board and table tennis have already been put to good use and there’s also an arts and crafts area. It’s amazing, we’ve got everything we need.”
On relaxing between training:
“I’ve been working my way through a book and been doing a bit of uni work. But I think the most popular thing amongst the team will be the table tennis. We’ve also just enjoyed watching the other games. There’s a big screen with bean bags, so we’ll all get together and watch the other games that are going on. It’s quite nice to just relax, have a laugh and watch some football.”
On preparations for the Denmark game:
“We’re back in training tomorrow; we had analysis today to look back on the Haiti game and see the little bits where we can pick up on to be a little bit better both on and off the ball. We’ll pick up and refine what we did for the Haiti game. There were some really brilliant passages of play where we were popping it around in midfield. We need to be a bit more clinical where we can and take that intensity into the Denmark game.”
On her first major tournament:
“I’ve absolutely loved it so far; it’s been so much fun. I think it only really hit me when I was stood for the anthems the other day – obviously there’s World Cup branding everywhere and there were so many England fans in the crowd – I think it only sunk in then that I was at a World Cup. Until then I kind of just thought, oh this is fun we’re on camp in Australia, and then when it came to match day it really hit me how special it is.”
On the team spirit:
“Everyone gets along so well. And it’s been amazing being able to have special off the pitch moments. We went whale watching and Mary Earps had the best day of her life. It just really brought everyone together on that boat because we had this amazing, shared experience together. It’s little things off the pitch like watching the sunset together on the beach that brings us so close as a unit and makes it so much fun to be part of camp. We then take that onto the training pitch, and everything just connects that little bit easier.”
On learning from older players:
“Everyone is so welcoming, and over the camps in the lead up that I’ve been a part of, people have been so good at integrating me into the group. I’m really lucky that I’ve played with so many of the girls before, be it at club or in the England youth groups so it’s made it really easy to settle in. It’s nice to be able to hear other people’s anecdotes of tournaments gone by, and bits of experience where they think they can manage certain situations better. And for them to pass that intel onto me is really special.”
On missing the call from Sarina telling her she’d made the squad:
“I’m really not good with phone calls. I’d been glued to my phone the full two-hour window, and it was right at the end of the window when she called me. I had a Zara delivery come in with last minute stuff for my holiday. I literally spent two minutes at my front door, went back into the living room and saw I had a missed call. Luckily, they rang back again a second later and I apologised and explained why I’d missed it!”
