PART ONE OF THE INTERVIEW WHICH APPEARED IN ISSUE ONE OF SHEKICKS MAGAZINE (DEC 09)

TL: It’s been a year of high achievement for the England women’s team. Were you pleased with your personal contribution to the team’s efforts at the 2009 European Championship finals?

EA: Very pleased. I felt I brought a lot to the team in terms of my fitness, sharpness and trying to score important goals. There’s been criticism of all our strikers, including me, for not scoring enough goals, so it was important to make a mark and I felt that I did that.

TL: Have you scored a better goal than your individual effort in the 2-1 quarter-final win against Finland?

EA: No, I don’t think I’ve scored a better or more important goal. It was an unbelievable feeling, hitting the net like that after a run from almost the half-way line. What made it extra special was the fact that it was the goal that won the match to take us into the semi-finals.

TL: You played wide on the left rather than through the middle in the final against Germany – how did you find that?

EA: It was a bit strange in the sense that whenever I’d played wide in the past it was on the right. So it was a daunting prospect, but I just wanted to play in the match and so I focused on the battle between me and (Germany’s right back) Linda Bresonik. Our front three switched around quite a lot during the game, but I felt generally that I had more of an impact from the left than I might have done at number nine.

TL: Would you relish having a target player alongside you in the England team, rather than playing as a lone striker?

EA: That’s out of my control when it comes to team formation, but I do enjoy playing as part of a front two. I had a great partnership with Lianne Sanderson in the season we had together at Chelsea – we got 40 goals between us. A lot of goals are created by the movement of strike partners, pulling defenders out of position to make space for each other. Germany showed that in the Euro final with Birgit Prinz and Inka Grings. But we got to the final playing 4-4-3, so that system obviously has its merits as well.  
 
TL: Who did you find to be the toughest opponents at Euro 2009, and why?

EA: Germany, no question. I’ve already mentioned the two strikers, but every player in the team knows not only their own job but also how every other player fits into the formation and how they all work together as a team. They’re just a well-oiled machine that functions so efficiently.

TL: What did you enjoy most about Euro 2009?

EA: The whole tournament was fantastic, but walking out for the final was a big highlight. It was a great feeling to be stepping out for such a massive match. I enjoyed the first half too, and even though the final result was obviously a major disappointment it was still a wonderful feeling to walk up the steps after the game and shake hands with football ambassadors like Michel Platini.

TL: What did you learn from playing in the tournament?

EA: That even though we lost 6-2 in the final, England are a very resilient side who never give up and who are definitely heading in the right direction in terms of our development as a team. And on a personal level, it reinforced my ambition to become recognised as one of the best players in the world.

TL: Since the high profile of the Euro final, have you become more recognised while you are out and about?

EA: Yes I have, although of course I’m still not recognised anywhere near as often as the top male players are. And I tend to get recognised more in America, where the profile of the women’s game is a lot higher than it is in England.

TL: Your family were there to support you in Finland and, following the tournament, I hear you had a brilliant time watching your brother Sone play for Nigeria at the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt. Can you tell us a bit about that?

EA: It was a really good experience and a very nice holiday. Disappointingly the Nigerian boys only reached the play-off stages of the tournament, but they have a lot of talented players who I’m sure have got bright futures. My family socialised with the players and managers from all the World Cup teams, and it was a lot of fun.

(Image: The FA/Hamish Blair)