Toone says England are well aware of the wider impact this summer’s European Championship may have on women’s football, but insists the Lionesses will have to concentrate entirely on lifting the trophy once the tournament takes place.
Eight Euro matches have already ended, which began in early July, and England’s opening match against Austria at Old Trafford and the last one at Wembley are added.
The competition, originally scheduled for last summer until postponed for 12 months to avoid a clash with the Covid-delayed men’s Eurocup, will be the first foreign women’s football event played in the country since the 2012 Olympic Games.
The UK team’s exploits in this tournament came at the start of a decade of great progress for women’s football, with England reaching the semi-finals of the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, as well as Euro 2017.
After this trio of near misses, England are among the favourites this summer, but have yet to savor defeat under new boss Sarina Wiegman, and Toone says opportunity on the pitch is the most sensible priority.
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“It will be a huge summer for women’s football and it will only help to expand the game, but when we take the field, our main goal is to win matches and make the country proud,” Toone told Standard Sport. “We set up our country at home in euros – what more can we ask for?We need to go there and just laugh and make others and the country proud as well.
“You need to win as many games as you can imagine and your dream is to win primary tournaments. It’s about taking credit, seizing the opportunity that presents itself and seeking to make one country proud, to make everyone else proud.
Toone spoke on one occasion at London’s Acland Burghley School in partnership with the Bloomsbury Football Foundation and Wow Hydrate, which award scholarships to 18 women to play football at the grassroots club.
Speaking on the BBC podcast Jill Scott’s Coffee Club last week, Toone revealed the role of bringing England internationals together, adding Scott, at a similar event in Manchester when a child had his motivation to pursue a career in the game. Now 22, normal Manchester United say she is determined to have a similar influence.
“I think it’s wonderful that young women have role models now,” she adds. “It’s always been difficult to grow because women’s football wasn’t as vital at the time, but now it’s huge. “I need to help as many women as possible enjoy football and fall in love with it. I am pleased to have the opportunity to give back and be a smart role model.
“It’s amazing to see, it’s still crazy to see little things like a young woman with your call on the back of the shirt. I need to be the most productive role style I can be for those young women, anything I can do to them.
Bloomsbury Football uses the strength of football in the lives of London’s young people. To learn more about the campaign, stop at www. wowhydrate. com
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