Toone: We already can't wait for World Cup final
Manchester United midfielder Ella Toone is already counting down the days until Sunday’s FIFA Women’s World Cup final in Sydney.
Our no.7 helped England secure a date with Spain in this weekend’s grand finale Down Under (11:00 BST KO), scoring the opener in Wednesday’s 3-1 semi-final victory over co-hosts Australia.
Speaking in the aftermath of that enthralling win to BBC’s Gary Flintoff, Tooney explained how it feels to have reached the winner-takes-all clash.
Toone nets as England reach World Cup final
ArticleUnited midfielder Ella played a starring role as the Lionesses defeated co-hosts Australia in a thrilling semi-final.
“We were celebrating with the crowd then and I said to the girls: ‘Wow, we’re in a World Cup final. That’s history!’
“Something as little girls we all wanted, we’re all absolutely over the moon and already can’t wait for it.”
The 23-year-old rifled home the game’s first goal, just over 12 months on from making the breakthrough in the triumphant Euro 2022 final, superbly finding the top-right corner with a driven finish from the left side of the penalty area.
“It fell to me perfectly and I thought: ‘Why not? Just smack it.’ Honestly, I’ve never hit a ball like that in my life and the girls reminded me of that,” she joked, speaking to the BBC.
“But it went top bins and I’m just so happy I could help the team to win tonight.”
We're so proud of you
GalleryMary Earps, Ella Toone and Katie Zelem are all through to the Women's World Cup final on Sunday.
Toone’s chat was recorded live on Wednesday’s Football Daily podcast, which fellow Red Maya Le Tissier was a guest on.
The young defender, who recently returned to Carrington for the start of United’s pre-season preparations, was named as a standby member of the England squad earlier this summer and travelled to Australia as part of the Lionesses’ final preparations for the tournament.
Maya was naturally made up with the triumph over Australia, and for Toone too. She says her good friend is reaping the rewards of her hard work behind the scenes and her elite mentality.
“I’m very happy for her. After training all the time, she’s always practicing finishing and I’m just so happy it came off in such a big moment for her.
“She’s obsessed with it and obsessed with getting better as well and that’s just credit to her mentality.
“Obviously, with United she’s been a big part of our team and she’s a winner now. It kind of brushes off on everyone else.”