Madras Times - Hemp guards against England complacency in Euros showdown with Wales

A win in St Gallen on Sunday will secure a place in the last eight for Sarina Wiegman's team, whose tails are up thanks to thumping the Dutch 4-0.

Rock-bottom Wales stand between England, who are second in the group, level on three points with the Netherlands and three behind leaders France, and passage to the next round.

England could both be eliminated and take top spot such is the delicate nature of the group, while Wales still have a slim chance of progressing even though Rhian Wilkinson's team have no points from their two matches.

"We definitely won't go into the game complacent," Hemp told reporters at England's training camp in Zurich.

"Wales have done well this tournament, they deserve to be there and we've got so much respect for them, they've got a lot of great players who I experience playing week in week out in the WSL so they've got a good team."

The Manchester City forward said a Wales match was always something she looked forward to.

"We've looked at their strengths and what we need to do to make sure that we can give the best England performance that we can do," she said.

"It's a great rivalry that we have and they're the games you want to be involved in, and they're the ones that I absolutely love playing in.

"We're all very excited about it, I feel like we don't need to explain the rivalry because it's like a derby, we want to win, end of."

Hemp said she can see how far the women's game has come along in England, where Olivia Smith is set to become the first woman player to be sold for one million pounds ($1.36 million) ahead of her transfer from Liverpool to Arsenal in the Women's Super League.

- New opportunities -

The 24-year-old, like many women of her generation, started playing football in a boy's team in her home town of North Walsham due to the lack of opportunities for girls.

But she says that is something that has changed, even in a small country town a stone's throw from England's east coast.

"I come from an area where there wasn't many opportunities... now seeing how many girls teams there are, how many girls have taken up football... it's incredible to see," she said.

"I always get messages of girls being inspired and it's great... now I see so many opportunities, and yeah it just makes you remember like all the hard work that you have done, and seeing that obviously when I go back home."

Hemp says her profile has been raised to the point that she has become a local celebrity in her home town and that she hears stories of girls getting involved in the game because of her success in the WSL.

"Yeah, I do get recognised quite a bit like when I'm fortunate enough to go home," she said.

"It doesn't happen very often that I get to go home but it's so nice when I do and yeah, I do get recognised quite a lot... I definitely get recognised more there than I do in Manchester, that's for sure.

"So many people come up to me not just asking for a photo but explaining their story and that I helped them get involved in playing football, I feel like that's so special and that's what I keep close to me."

Q.Kulkarni--MT