Risky move pays off for Lionesses' World Cup-bound England

BURTON ON TRENT, England : Left out of several Lioness sides over the past year and seeing scant playing time in her seventh season with Chelsea, Bethany England saw the writing on the wall.

Her chance to don the England jersey at this year's Women's World Cup was in serious jeopardy.

So, despite her aversion to change, the 29-year-old decided to rewrite her story, leaving Chelsea for Tottenham Hotspur in the hope of reclaiming her spot in Sarina Wiegman's side.

It worked - and she has rediscovered her joy of the game in the process.

"Obviously, it was amazing for me," a smiling England told reporters at the Lionesses' first World Cup practice at St George's Park.

"I think I've done everything I could to get put in this position, worked as best I could at scoring the goals, so the question was just left to Sarina.

"I got the call, tried to play nice and cool. But hung up the phone and screamed my house down."

Whether England got the nod was one of the biggest question marks ahead of Wiegman's May 31 squad announcement for the fourth-ranked Lionesses, who carry high hopes as European champions into the global tournament that kicks off in Australia and New Zealand on July 20.

"First thing I did was ring my mum, ring my partner," England said about the good news.

MAJOR TROPHIES

England won nine major trophies at Chelsea and was named Women's Super League player of the season for 2019-20 but she left for Tottenham in "an overnight decision" on Jan. 4 and finished the WSL season with 13 goals in 14 appearances for Spurs.

"Anything's a risk in football. I wasn't getting used (at Chelsea). I was stuck on a bench. And as Sarina said, rightly, I wasn't getting picked because I wasn't playing the minutes.

"It was up to me to make sure