LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Keira Walsh of England has expressed her gratitude for injured teammate Leah Williamson’s support of the Lionesses during the Women’s World Cup.
Williamson led the Lionesses to victory at the European Championship last year, but she missed the World Cup this summer due to an ACL injury.
Walsh claims it couldn’t have been simple for her to fly to Australia to see her team beat Colombia and move to the semifinals.
“It’s a massive boost for the team to see her supporting,” Walsh said to the BBC, after suffering a knee injury scare of her own during the group stage.
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“It’s the other side of the world; it’s not an easy flight, and that shows how she feels about this team. The first time I saw her, she was outside my hotel window, waving. She didn’t want to distract us on game day.
“It was nice to get the win and celebrate after. I can imagine it’s not easy for her to watch; she would have wanted to be playing, so we appreciate her support. It shows what a good character she is to be able to do that for us.”
Williamson was not present for England’s advancement to the semi-finals, where they will play the hosts Australia in front of an 81,000-person audience on Wednesday.
If England defeats Australia, the Sunday championship match will either feature Spain or Sweden.
Williamson is now continuing her recuperation and hopes to make a comeback for Arsenal this season.