Hannah Hampton said it was a “dream come true” to make her England debut in Sunday’s goalless draw with Spain in the second round of the Arnold Clark Cup.
Spain went into the match as favourites with a core of players who won the Champions League with Barcelona, but they were unable to find a breakthrough against England.
It was a largely cagey affair, with goalkeeper Hampton having to deal with just four shots on target from the visitors in front of 14,284 fans at Carrow Road.
dreams really do come true✨— Hannah Hampton (@hannahhampton_) February 20, 2022
“It was a dream come true for me,” the 21-year-old said.
“I don’t think I took a smile off my face from the minute I got told until now really, and I don’t think it will be coming off my face for a long time.
“I couldn’t really have planned it any better. You go over this day so many times in your head and what you wish for, and honestly the game then was more than what I ever could have thought it would be.”
The Aston Villa stopper also earned the praise of manager Sarina Wiegman, who said: “She’s a young player, very talented. I already said that before the game and she just needs games like this also to develop, she has a real high potential and I think she showed that today.
That smile! 😁— Lionesses (@Lionesses) February 20, 2022
“Her distribution was very good and that can harm other teams and opponents.”
Spain boss Jorge Vilda believes the game was useful preparation ahead of the Euros in England later this year.
“We enjoyed playing in the fantastic atmosphere, and this game and the atmosphere that we came up against has served us well for the Euros in the summer,” he said.
“We also noted that we needed to make a couple of adjustments at half-time, which we did and the players went out in the second half and implemented those changes as I’d hoped.
“But as a whole we played a very good England team and (are happy) with the way that we performed.”
