England’s recently named vice-captain Jordan Nobbs will look to older team-mates for advice during this summer’s World Cup.
By Glenn Lavery
The 22 year-old midfielder had the vice-captaincy bestowed upon her by head coach Mark Sampson during England’s success in the Cyprus Cup earlier this year, and donned the armband in the win over Canada in the final.
The Arsenal star has experience of leading her country at U15s, U17s and U19s level so it is not a role that is completely new to her. But she is happy to learn from other colleagues – including skipper Steph Houghton and England’s most capped player of all-time, Fara Williams.
Nobbs said: “All the girls have been really supportive. I’m sure I’ll still learn loads from them anyway.
“Steph and I have a strong relationship and she said she was really proud of me which is a great thing to hear from your captain. I look up to Steph. She is a massive role model of mine and hopefully I can step into her shoes as and when I have to and use the things I have learnt from her.
“There is a lot of experience in this team and I want to keep learning from the likes of Steph, Alex Scott, Fara and others. I know for a fact the knowledge I will pick up off people like that will only make me a better captain and a better player.”
Nobbs and her England team-mates are in Toronto, Canada preparing for their opening match of the World Cup, against France in Moncton on Tuesday 9 June.
She didn’t feature in the 1-0 loss to the host nation on Friday, England’s final warm-up match before the tournament, and with Houghton back to full fitness following a recent knee injury it looks as though Nobbs will have to wait until she leads her country out again.
The former Sunderland player captained England in their last match on home soil – a 2-1 win over China in April – but she looks back with particular fondness at the first time she marshalled the side.
Nobbs added: “Putting that armband on before the Canada game was one of the biggest highlights of my career.
“When you’re little, becoming England captain is an absolute dream. There’s a feeling you get in your stomach that you just can’t describe. It really is a memorable moment.”
Nobbs captained England at the U-17s World Cup in 2008 and went to the U20s World Cup two years later, but this is her first experience of the senior tournament. She said: “It’s the biggest tournament you can be a part of. It’s something you will be talking about for a long time after.
“World Cups don’t come around that often and you want to make the most of it – and that’s exactly what I plan to do.”
England’s opening game against France is live on BBC Two from 5.30pm BST.
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