A very subjective look into AWFC

I believe we’re just 8 days away from the World Cup and I’m finally starting to get extremely excited. Last night I took a look at the actual schedule, kick off times and so and it’s absolutely mental that I will, without question, be waking up at 2am, 3am, staying up way too late etc. Normally the thought of waking up so early would be a big nope, but I have no issues whatsoever waking up then. Just as I do with AWFC matches every weekend.

It’s more than normal… it’s actually predictable that I would talk about our players and what I expect from them. I don’t have time at the moment because I need to pack and run to the airport really soon BUT the way I can answer the question I posed in the title is this: MOST OF THEM. The caveat to this is how “shining” can be seen as basically scoring a bunch of goals but you, dear reader, are way too intelligent for that to impress you entirely.

Catley and Foord are absolutely going to be in everyone’s eyes. Host nation… I am not alone in thinking they’ll go far.

McCabe is the one player I’m looking forward to seeing on this big stage. As you know, I’m a huge fan and I think she needs this in many ways and I think the Irish actually have a chance to shock the world.

Frida and Stina are also a solid bet and I think they’ll both be playing well, with Stina more likely to get plaudits because of her goal scoring.

However, the player that I think will shine and will absolutely steal the show is Lia Walti. To a degree the world has little by little been more embracing of players like Keira Walsh and so on, so I’m really looking forward to all the experts, pundits and analysts to rave about her and build her up pre tournament and, of course, during the competition itself. Lia, as I’ve said before, is the barometer, the engine, the brain, she’s everything. She’s the smartest player on the pitch and I’m excited to see her basically put that team on her shoulders and carry them.

BONUS: since the whole “once a gooner…” saying… Rafaelle, I would expect, will be a major talking point with Brazil and I expect them to go pretty far in the tournament for sure.

What about you? Who do you see shining?

d ❤

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