The secret of the goal that announced Alessia Russo to the world, the out-of-nowhere backheel that stunned Sweden during England’s run to the European Championship last summer, was that Russo wasn’t sure it would happen.
That the ball went in the net was, in her words, “maybe luck, maybe instinct.”Last week, the goal she scored to open her account at her first World Cup was something else altogether: a silky first touch, an effortless shift of her weight, a confident finish into the lower left corner.
That goal was a striker’s finish, the first of what Russo, and England, hopes will be many more.
“I play my best football when I’m feeling good and happy and confident,” the 24-year-old Russo said.
That on-pitch confidence, though, has not always been evident in Russo’s performances in the gap between that goal and her latest one.
Persons:
Alessia Russo, England’s, Russo
Organizations:
European
Locations:
Sweden, England