Alessia Russo is convinced the \u201csky-high\u201d standard of women\u2019s football will ensure the sport\u2019s profile continues to soar.<\/p>\n
The England striker believes the sold-out stadiums and feverish atmospheres at last year\u2019s FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup\u2122 reflect the game\u2019s progress. Almost two million fans attended matches at Australia & New Zealand 2023, while there was an estimated global television audience of two billion.<\/p>\n
Russo said the tournament highlighted the depth of quality in the sport and is confident the next generation of women\u2019s players can further raise the bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe World Cup showed the magnitude of the women’s game now is exactly where it should be,\u201d the 24-year-old told FIFA. \u201cYou could really feel that throughout the competition. The crowds, the atmosphere, the fan vibe around the whole tournament was really special.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sky\u2019s the limit for women’s football and people can really see that now, which is amazing and what we’ve wanted for a long time. The young players coming through are top. The level will keep getting better, the teams will keep getting better, and the 2027 World Cup is set up to be an amazing one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russo was one of the stars of Australia & New Zealand 2023, scoring three goals as the Lionesses finished runners-up Down Under. Her haul included clutch strikes in quarter-final and semi-final victories and, while England were edged out by Spain in the championship match, Russo left the tournament having firmly established herself as one of the game\u2019s most complete strikers.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old’s status among the elite was crystallised in January when she was voted by her fellow professionals into the FIFA FIFPRO Women\u2019s World 11.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the biggest honours you can get is to gain the respect of those other players that you play with and against,\u201d added the Arsenal attacker. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible. It definitely means the most coming from them because they’re who you’re on the journey with and whose opinion matters most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russo has already etched her name into England\u2019s history books, having been part of the team that won the UEFA Women\u2019s EURO on home soil in 2022. But although the Women\u2019s World Cup followed 12 months later, her and her team-mates will not be in major tournament action in 2024 after England missed out not only on qualification for the UEFA Women’s Nations League finals, but qualification for the Olympic Football Tournament as Great Britain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Olympics was something that we really wanted to go to as a team,\u201d said Russo. \u201cQualifying was really difficult and we fell short. It was really tough. We’ve had two big summers of tournaments and it’s going to be sad to not have another one, especially when you get used being in the flow of tournament football. That\u2019s where every player wants to be playing. But we\u2019ll use this time get a bit of a rest, recharge, and get ready to go again.\u201d<\/p>\n
While missing out on the Olympics represented a significant disappointment, the Lionesses players received hugely positive news in January 2024 when coach Sarina Wiegman signed a new long-term contract.<\/p>\n
Wiegman, who has recently been voted as The Best FIFA Women\u2019s Coach for a record fourth time, has committed her future until after the next Women\u2019s World Cup in 2027. Russo explained why she feels is privileged to be working under \u201can incredible leader\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe makes the game a better place,\u201d Russo added. \u201cAs soon as she starts talking, everyone listens. And I think that’s a real special quality. It makes it even more special that she can get a group of players on board straight away \u2013 we all have one vision and we have gone on this mission to try to achieve it. She was the leading force in all of that. She’s a very powerful woman and one who deserves all the success she gets.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Wiegman at the helm \u2013 and Russo among a host of outstanding England players set to be in their prime when the next World Cup comes around \u2013 the striker is already eyeing another tilt at the greatest prize of all.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the World Cup is everything,\u201d said Russo, who will be 27 when the next edition of the tournament takes place. \u201cIt\u2019s what you want as a kid, what you dream about. The World Cup is the pinnacle of football, what means the most, and what you strive for every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Alessia Russo is convinced the \u201csky-high\u201d standard of women\u2019s football will ensure the sport\u2019s profile continues to soar. The England striker believes the sold-out stadiums and feverish atmospheres at last year\u2019s FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup\u2122 reflect the game\u2019s progress. Almost two million fans attended matches at Australia & New Zealand 2023, while there was an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":939209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20966],"tags":[9648,27192],"class_list":["post-939206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fifa-news","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=939206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/939209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=939206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=939206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=939206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}