After the pure, unadulterated joy of last year’s Women’s Euro tournament (pick your fighter: Chloe Kelly waving her shirt over her head, or Jill Scott’s slow-motion expletive-telling (“Fuck you, you motherfucker”), it’s no wonder anticipation is building for this summer’s Women’s World Cup.
The tournament will be held in Australia and New Zealand, with the first leg kicking off on July 20 in Auckland, New Zealand, and the tournament finishing on August 20 in Sydney, Australia. (Unfortunately, due to a series of injuries, last year’s big names, striker Beth Mead and centre-back Leah Williamson (herself a former Australian international), will not be able to play. Women’s Health The cover star is not on the team.
Back in London, the cover of this summer’s huge issue features Lion Alessia Russo, the 24-year-old England star striker who was nominated for a FIFA award for her stunning backheel goal against Sweden last summer.
The tournament effectively showcased her fast, fierce attacking style and she has since become one of the most talked-about players in the Women’s Super League (rumours intensified after she was the subject of a world-record-breaking transfer offer earlier this year).
Her interview appears in the July/August issue. Women’s Health – Alessia (no biggie) shares her thoughts on England’s chances of winning the tournament, where the mighty USA are the reigning champions.
“This is another big opportunity and I hope we can make more history,” she said. “But [standard of the] The women’s game is at a higher level than it’s ever been, so I think there will be a lot of teams with the same ambition and that’s what makes it a great tournament.”
Alessia, who announced she was leaving former club Manchester United but has not yet said where she would go, is adamant that global unity in women’s football is essential.
Asked about the news that Scotland are preparing to take the Scottish Football Association to an employment tribunal over equal pay and working conditions, she said: “It’s important that we show our solidarity because this is a challenge that many in football have to face and one that they shouldn’t have to face.”
“We always root for other teams when they’re in that predicament,” Alessia continued, “It’s not tolerated and it doesn’t happen in the men’s game, so we don’t want to see it happen in the women’s game.”
Despite the well-known gender pay gap in her sport, she remains optimistic.
“It’s getting better. I think it’s grown a lot in terms of opportunities, sponsors, team facilities, travel, uniforms available. People are now investing in women’s football. It’s probably taken too long, but I’m glad it’s happening now.”
While she’s focused on the task at hand, Alessia also opened up about her relationship with her body and food, which she says has been at its worst during the pandemic.
“Lockdown was tough, I was training on my own, staying at home and I lost a lot of weight. Then straight after lockdown I signed for Manchester United and within about six weeks I completely ruptured my hamstring. [which I] I had never experienced muscle damage before, so all I could remember was losing a lot of weight.”
The weight loss was deliberate: the cover star became obsessed with tracking her calories and macros on an app during lockdown.
“I really wanted to get some high protein in. [levels]but it was also really low in calories. [my diet] “It was high protein, but I was sacrificing all the carbs and fat… and that was my calorie intake for the day,” she recalled.
“Yeah, I was recording everything. [on an app]I know there are still people who use it. [it]”But… my diet was terrible, my weight was terrible. I wasn’t strong enough, I wasn’t sturdy enough. I thought I looked great, but… on the football pitch, I just wasn’t strong enough to compete.”
She also believes that female athletes’ struggles with food may be a bigger problem than many realise.
“Obviously, I want to win and do my best on the pitch, but I also want to look a certain way, so I’m a bit biased. A lot of young girls [do]” she explains.
“I wanted to get lean and compete at that level.” [Now] My body is still a big priority, but I know I have to eat a lot more than I initially thought. Now I don’t want to be skinny, I want to be strong. Food has a huge impact on how I feel and how my body responds.”
Absolutely. Another thing about Alessia is that she never gets offended when we talk football and ask her about her skincare and makeup routine (she always wears makeup on match days and is a Charlotte Tilbury fan).
“You can ask the same thing of male soccer players. They like to dress up, they like to cut their hair. Just because they’re playing an aggressive, contact sport. [that] It’s not that I don’t like pampering myself…[I’m] I’m an athlete, but I’m also a young girl who likes to work on that side of things. Some girls do it with the way they dress…Everyone has their own way of expressing themselves outside of soccer.”
What about her future goals? By her own admission, Alessia doesn’t plan on aiming for the captain’s armband anytime soon, either for club or country.
“I don’t know if I can be a leader in the captaincy sense, but I can lead in other ways – leading from the front, leading with what I do, leading with how I train and how I play. I’m not a very vocal person, I just like to take action.”
And we will be watching. I can’t wait for July.
