Manchester City midfielder Laura Coombs in 'shock' after England call-up eight years after last cap

Laura Coombs has spoken of her shock as she prepares to win her first England cap for eight years. The Manchester City midfielder has played for her country twice but the second of those caps came in 2015 against Australia under former Lionesses boss Mark Sampson. Ad In 2020, she was called up to Phil Neville’s final training camp of the year but did not play.

FootballEngland’s Wiegman nominated for The Best FIFA Women's Coach Award 202209/02/2023 AT 17:30 Since then, the Lionesses have grown in stature, becoming European champions under Sarina Wiegman. They are now getting ready for next year’s World Cup and preparations continue by taking part in the Arnold Clark Cup, with their opening match coming against South Korea in Milton Keynes on Thursday night. Wiegman’s side then go on to play Italy and Belgium.

Coombs — who has scored four times in 17 appearances for City this season — was expecting to be watching the games from home as she recovered from a busy start to the campaign. However, as she took an ice bath with teammate Khadija Shaw, Coombs received an unexpected phone call to tell her to pack her bags for international duty. Coombs said: “I was surprised because it’s just been so long and I didn’t really think about the international stage anymore.

«I was thinking I was going to get a break over the international break. I’m really happy to be here and yeah, it was a shock but now I’m here, I’m ready to get down to work.” Hargreaves: PSG need Messi 'blueprint', Nagelsmann faces Bayern 'pressure' 'Only be satisfied if they give me two points back' – Arteta unhappy with PGMOL VAR apology Asked if her dreams of international success have long been over, Coombs said: “It’s not that I’d given up. In my early years,