'Speaking Spanish helped!' - England goalkeeper Hampton reflects on international debut

England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton made her senior international debut on Sunday and believes her ability to speak Spanish “definitely helped” as the Lionesses drew 0-0 with Spain in the Arnold Clark Cup.

Hampton moved to Spain with her family at the age of five and played with the Villarreal academy for several years, before returning to England aged 10.

Speaking to the press after winning her first cap, the 21-year-old, who signed for Aston Villa from local rivals Birmingham City this summer, explained how that benefited her as she kept her clean sheet in her first game for her country.

“I can speak Spanish. I'm fluent in Spanish. I was actually saying to a few people at the end of the game, I was listening to everything that the Spanish were saying and telling everyone, 'They're going to do this. They're going to do that',” Hampton revealed. “That definitely helped!

“I don't think [the Spain players] knew. I knew a few of them from the youth age groups, coming through England and playing against them, so they might have remembered, but I don't think so.”

The young goalkeeper has been in a number of England squads over the last couple of years, going to the 2020 SheBelieves Cup as a training player and winning several call-ups since. However, this was her first time getting on the pitch, a moment she described as “a dream come true”.