The England striker Alessia Russo says the team is ready to test themselves against the best, as the lionesses organize Spain in the UEFA women nations on Wednesday evening.
The blockbuster collapse under the arch of the Wembley Stadium will be the first time that the two sides have met since the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Sydney, in which Spain triumphed 1-0 thanks to a goal of Olga Carmona.
Alessia Russo, star of Arsenal, says England will not seek revenge for the World Cup loss, but focus on his development in the European Championship of this summer.
“I think for me, revenge reflects a little about the past,” pressed Russo. “We are a new team, we now have a lot of new faces and many new quality in the squad. We don’t want to look back. Obviously it hurts, they can ask every player.”
“We want to go forward, we have a new opportunity, we are back at Wembley, we have all of our fans there. We are very much looking forward to it. These are the games you want to play as players.
The meeting of England with Spain will be the second game of the Nations League team after they were drawn 1-1 with Portugal in a performance in the second half last Friday evening. Despite the lackluster display, Russo believes that England lies in a good place in Wembley’s collision.
“There is a lot of energy around the place,” the striker assured. “We feel good, so we are in a good place as a team.”
“Winning games in general gives you confidence as a team, but we learn a lot from performances that are not so positive. This is part of football and that is part of the trip we have for the euro, and this is a step on our trip.
The Spanish team competed on the field, but the players also had to control the legal proceedings around Luis Rubiales’ illegal actions against Jenni Hermoso. The former Spanish boss was found to have been guilty of sexually attacking Hermoso after the final of the Women’s World Championship in 2023, and was fined with a fine of € 10,000 (£ 8,275), but a prison was avoided.
“We are all through the process with them,” said Russo when he was asked how the English team supported Spanish players during the turbulent time.
“I know that for teammates that I played, they let their football standards slide.
Russo’s Arsenal teammate Mariona Caldentey and Laia Codina were part of the Spanish team that won the World Cup and both were involved in the legal proceedings. The 26-year-old praised the couple and praised the strength shown in the past two years.
“Obviously you never want your teammates to go through something like the process,” said Russo. “They acted with so much class and it was not easy. They are top players and their standards are always sky high, so I am grateful that people have such people around me every day.
“The community that has women football is really something special and something unique in the game. Whether it’s good or bad, we help and we come together. We are really good at celebrating the success of the other. In the end want We all the same applies to women’s football, we want it to be at the highest level without such moments.
“To play next to them, they both bring so much quality. I really enjoy talking to them and only talking about different experiences and about how they see the game. They are also great people as humans who are great people in one I can have a team.