Williamson to lead England in defence of European Championship title
The centre-back will once again lead England in a major tournament
Captain Leah Williamson will lead England Lionesses in their defence of their European Championship crown next month.
The 28-year-old from Newport Pagnell lifted the trophy in 2022 after beating Germany 2-1 at Wembley Stadium.
She has had an historic season too, surpassing the most appearances for a single club in the Women’s Super League en route to second place behind Chelsea , and won the Champions League with Arsenal as they saw off Barcelona in the final.
Playing in England’s pre-tournament friendlies against Portugal and Spain last week, Williamson looks set to add to her 57 caps for the Lionesses in the Euros.
She was not impressed with England’s performance in their final match before the competition though, as they went down 2-1 to the World Cup holding Spanish.
“I think in the second-half they pressed a bit higher, we struggled, we couldn't keep the ball as well as we had done in the first half,” she said. “We didn't really have any real threat. I think you saw maybe the best of us the previous game and just slightly off it today.”
Heading to Switzerland for the finals this summer, England will face Wales, 11th ranked France and 10th ranked Germany in the group stages.
Williamson continued: “We feel good, there's just tweaks that need to be made and it's disappointing because that's a competitive fixture and that's an important campaign to us going forward with rankings and seedings.”