Football star Zara Shaw ready to take on hard graft

Versatile Zara Shaw says the sacrifices she has made will all be worthwhile if she can help fire England to the Women's Under-17 European Championship. The 15-year-old Liverpool youth midfielder has been selected in the England Under-17 squad to take on Croatia, Belgium and Norway in Group A2 next month as they look to get off to a strong start in Round 2 of qualifying. Ad Shaw spent 2022 helping England reach this stage in the championship — which will be held in Estonia — and formed a crucial part of the squad that beat Denmark 3-1, Estonia 3-0 and Ukraine 11-0 last October.

FootballFootball star Endacott ready to take next steps in fledgling career38 MINUTES AGO And with the tough task of balancing academic work at The Prescot School with her football with the Reds, Shaw admits that representing her country makes all the tough times worthwhile. «It can be very time-consuming, as you can imagine, you have to sacrifice family time and time with friends,» said Shaw, who is supported by SportsAid and Starling Bank and was speaking ahead of SportsAid Week 2023. «Even education time at school becomes limited, so it is hard to fit everything in, but it is all worth it when you achieve something like this.

»After being called up to the Under-17s, I was just buzzing, to be honest, proud, excited, everything really. «There were a few nerves, but it felt really good. »Being called up to an England squad is the best feeling after all the work you have put in every day at training.