Millie Bright opens up on ‘extra pressure’ on England at the World Cup and ‘ massive honour’ of leading Lionesses
MILLIE BRIGHT is a huge believer in dreaming big and has a tattoo of a dreamcatcher on her left arm as a reminder.
The depiction is inspired by her mother telling her to ‘dream big’ before every game with the England skipper eyeing World Cup glory.
Football dreams don’t come any bigger than attempting to lead the Lionesses to their first World Cup win in the Fifa contest’s 32-year history.
And Bright, 29, recognises there are huge expectations of the team following their Euros triumph over Germany at Wembley last July.
The Chelsea centre-back said: "There was always going to be extra pressure.
"This will be the biggest Women’s World Cup so far, the quality has gone up, the expectation goes up.
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"We have to keep two feet on the ground and know the challenge ahead will be bigger than any other tournament.”
Bright and her team-mates jetted off to Australia today before the tournament’s start there and in New Zealand on July 20.
The England defender will captain the side in the absence of Leah Williamson.
The Arsenal star's hopes of leading the Lionesses’ charge were cruelly dashed by a knee ligament injury she suffered in April.
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Bright added: "(I’m) Absolutely gutted (for Leah).
"Straight away I was just in shock that she had suffered such a severe injury.
"I don’t think the captaincy crossed my mind at all, hand on heart.
"Then I got my injury so my head was just fully on my rehab and trying to make the selection.
"That (the captaincy) was probably the last thing I thought of.
"You don’t want to see any player go through that injury. There are too many on that topic at the minute.
"We’ve had check-ins, to make sure Leah is alright – when you go through that, you need a team around you.
"She’s also checked how I’ve been getting on, we’ve stayed in touch for sure."
This year’s World Cup will be missing the talents of a number of top stars in addition to Williamson.
They include England and Netherlands forwards Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema and USA and Chelsea star Catarina Macario.
The recent spate of injuries to scores of players at the highest levels of the women’s game is an ongoing concern.
And it has led to debate around match scheduling.
This summer will be the second in a row in which England’s aces have played in a major tournament following busy domestic seasons.
The team are also due to compete in Uefa’s inaugural Women’s Nations League which kicks off in September.
Bright said: "I’ve been doing it for several years, when you’re doing back-to-back tournaments it’s hard, when you’re playing every single minute for your clubs.
"As a player it [burnout] is always in the back of your mind; after the World Cup we’ve then got a return to playing in the league.
"There is work to be done and we are aware of the situation.
"A lot of people within the game have shown real concern and been very outspoken about it.
"That in itself creates conversation. It is about everyone coming together to make sure the schedule works.
"There is still work to be done, making sure we can compete in every competition and do back-to-back tournaments.
"But we are not robots, we need time to recover, to perform for the fans, for our clubs and countries, we want to be at the highest level.
"For now, we are just focusing on the summer.";
England face Haiti in their tournament opener on July 22 followed by clashes with Denmark and China in Group D.
And Bright will captain a squad featuring six World Cup debutants including rising stars Lauren James, Esme Morgan and Katie Robinson.
Bright added: "I feel really grateful to be selected, let alone to be captaining the girls, it is a massive honour.
"But for me nothing changes, I stay the same, I’d like to think people see the same Millie.
"I always lead for the team, that’s just natural to me.
"I expect standards from the group, I see myself as the driver because I am so competitive.
"You have to keep pushing to be better year in, year out.
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"You have younger players at a first tournament, you have to make sure they have everything they need.
"We just want them to be excited to go out, have their best summer and play their best football."