After the pure, unadulterated joy of last year’s women’s Euros tournament (choose your fighter: Chloe Kelly swinging her shirt around her head or Jill Scott‘s slow-mo expletives (‘f**k you you f**king p***k’) it’s no surprise that anticipation is mounting for this summer’s Women’s World Cup.
The tournament will be hosted across Australia and New Zealand, with the first game kicking off on July 20th in Auckland, NZ and the tournament concluding in Sydney, Australia on 20th August. (Sadly, owing to a spate of injuries, big names from last year like striker Beth Mead and central defender Leah Williamson – herself a former Women’s Health cover star aren’t in the squad.)
Back in London, we couldn’t be more thrilled that fronting our bumper summer issue is Lioness Alessia Russo. The 24-year-old star striker for England was nominated for a Fifa award after her epic back heel goal in last summer’s match against Sweden.
The tournament so effectively showcased her fast, furious attacking style that she’s been one of the most-talked about names in the Women’s Super League ever since (with the rumour mill ramping up after she was the subject of a world record-breaking transfer bid earlier this year).
Within her interview – which you can read, in full, in the July/August issue of Women’s Health – Alessia (not one for overstatement) shares her thoughts on England’s chances in the tournament, where a formidable USA side are reigning champions.
‘It’s another huge opportunity to go out there and hopefully create more history,’ she shares. ‘But the [standard of the] women’s game is higher than ever. So, there will be lots of teams going there with that same ambition…I think that’s what’s going to make it such a great tournament.’
Alessia – who has announced that she’s leaving former club Manchester United, but not confirmed where she’s headed – is adamant that international solidarity within the women’s game is essential.
When asked about the news that the Scottish national side are preparing to take the Scottish FA to an employment tribunal in a fight over equal pay and conditions, she said: ‘It’s important that we show that solidarity because it’s a challenge that a lot of people in the game have to face and shouldn’t have to.’
‘We’ll always back other teams when they’re going through struggles like that,’ Alessia continued. ‘It’s not okay and it wouldn’t happen in the men’s game – so we don’t like to see it in the women’s.’
On her sport’s well-documented gender pay gap, she’s optimistic.
‘It’s getting better. And even with things like opportunities, sponsors, team facilities, how you travel and the kit you get, I think it’s growing massively. People are investing in women’s football now. It’s probably taken too long. But it’s nice to see it’s there now.’
As focused as she is on the job at hand, Alessia was also up for letting us into the relationship she’s had with her body and food – which, she shares, hit a low during the pandemic.
‘In lockdown, it was tough: I was training on my own, I was home and I lost quite a bit of weight. Then I signed for Man United soon after lockdown. And within about six weeks, I completely tore my hamstring, [which I] could only relate back to losing a lot of weight because I’ve never had a muscle injury before.’
The weight loss was by design – after our cover star become fixated on tracking her calories and macros on an app during the lockdown.
‘I wanted to make sure I hit really [levels], but it was also about really low calories. So [my diet] was high protein, but I was sacrificing all the carbs and the fats… and then that would be my calories for the day,’ she recalls.
‘And yeah, I used to track everything [on an app]. I know some people still use [it], but…I was at a low point with my food and with my weight. I wasn’t strong enough; I wasn’t robust. I thought I looked great… but really, on the football pitch, I wasn’t strong enough to compete.’
She also believes problematic relationships with food among female athletes may be a bigger issue than many realise.
‘There’s a bit of a stigma because, of course, you want to compete and be the best on the pitch, but you want to look a certain way as well. As a lot of young girls [do],’ she explains.
‘I wanted to be skinny and compete at that kind of level. [Now] my body is still a huge priority. But I understand I need to eat a lot more than I thought I did at the start, and now I don’t want to be skinny, I want to be strong. Food plays a huge part in how you feel and how your body reacts.’
Amen to that. Another thing about Alessia is that she definitely won’t be offended if, alongside the football chat, you ask her about her skincare or make up routine. (She always wears makeup on game days.)
‘You could ask male footballers the same thing: they like to get dressed up and, get their hair cut all the time. Just because we play a sport that’s aggressive and contact [that] doesn’t mean we don’t like to pamper ourselves…[I’m] an athlete, but I’m also a young girl who likes to engage in that side of it as well. Some girls do it with their clothes…everyone has their own little ways to express yourself outside of football.’
As for her future goals? The way she tells it, Alessia won’t be eyeing up a captain’s armband – for club or country – any time soon.
‘I don’t know if I’m ever going to be a leader in the sense of a captain. But I think I can lead in other ways, whether that’s leading from the front, leading in my actions, in how I train, how I play, I’m not the most vocal person; I like to just do things instead.’
And we’ll be watching. Roll on July.
