England winger Beth Mead is hopeful of a place in the World Cup squad as her recovery from an ACL injury is ahead of schedule. In March, England coach Sarina Wiegman claimed it would be a “miracle” if Mead healed in time to go for this summer’s tournament. Mead has not played since sustaining the season-ending injury in Arsenal’s 3-2 loss to Manchester United in November of last year. Mead stated she was back in training at London Colney and still held out hope of taking the flight to Australia and New Zealand in July after receiving an MBE from Prince William for her player-of-the-tournament role in the Lionesses’ stunning Euro 2022 success last year.
“The injury is OK; I have been playing again for almost five months now, feeling terrific, and ahead of schedule. I can only control what I can do right now,” England winger Beth Mead said. “Since it’s beyond my control, I wouldn’t say I’m confident about attending the World Cup, but I’m making every effort to get there. In the end, though, Sarina will probably make the call.”
Mead is one of four Arsenal players sidelined by ACL tears at the same time, along with Vivianne Miedema, Laura Wienroither, and Leah Williamson, the captain of England, who will undoubtedly miss this summer’s competition. Mead said that she had expressed her condolences to Williamson, a club and international teammate, who was less than three weeks into her recuperation time.
“I have sympathy for her since I am aware of her circumstance and her current state of mind. But she will have the support of my teammates, and maybe she can recover stronger for the following tournament. Leah is a wonderful player who was instrumental in the last summer campaign; nevertheless, for England, that is your captain and your leader,” she added. “Sarina will relieve our strain because she is quite familiar with the group. You should go out there and enjoy playing football because it’s the World Cup. We all love doing it, and that’s what we do for a living.”
For more football news, click here
