Lionesses share footage whale watching ahead of the World Cup

When the Lionesses met the whale! England women’s football team share incredible footage as they go humpback spotting ahead of the World Cup in Australia

• The Lionesses will have their first World Cup match against Haiti on Saturday  

The Lionesses have shared incredible footage spotting humpback whales off the Australian coast as the Euro-winning team prepare for the World Cup.

England star keeper Mary Earps shared the amazing video on Instagram, showing Sarina Wiegman’s squad enjoying a much-deserved day out Mooloolaba on the Sunshine coast ahead of their first match against Haiti on Saturday.

Earps was captured looking particularly excited, jumping into the air as a whale leapt out of the water right in front of their boat.

Writing on Instagram the goalie joked ‘a whaley special day’ while her teammate Lucy Bronze, 31, added: ‘A whale of a time.’

Whales are often spotted off the waters in Australia between June to November and are a major tourist attraction.

The Lionesses went whale watching off the Sunshine Coast in Australia ahead of their first world cup game on Saturday

Earps was captured looking particularly excited, jumping into the air as a whale leapt out of the water right in front of their boat

Whales are often spotted off the waters in Australia between June to November and are a major tourist attraction

The England women’s football team will meet their first competitor in their Group D opener in Brisbane on Saturday.

Host team Australia will open the tournament in Sydney against Ireland on Thursday in front of a huge sell-out crowd of 82,500 people.

It comes as the Aussie team, known as ‘The Matildas’, shared a video yesterday calling for fairer pay in the women’s game.

Ahead of the tournament, the England team has suffered from minor setbacks. 

Captain and centre back Leah Williamson is missing through an anterior cruciate ligament injury, as is Euros Golden Boot winner Beth Mead , while Fran Kirby is also ruled out with a knee problem.

The Lionesses all-time leading goal scorer, Ellen White, retired after the Euros, meaning there are three places to fill in the attacking areas.

Earps is still set to take on the goalie position, but others are yet to be determined.

Sarina Wiegman’s squad enjoying a much-deserved day out Mooloolaba on the Sunshine coast. Pictured: Earps in shock after seeing the humpback whales 

Following the Lioness’ Euro win, Earps carried out a campaign for greater access to sport for girls in school

The World Cup will kick off on Thursday seeing Australia play Ireland. Pictured: England players during their training session on the sunshine coast

Speaking ahead of the tournament Earps said: ‘The team looks a lot different to the Euros. Yes, there are the injuries to Beth and Leah, but we’ve also lost some big players from the squad, the likes of Ellen (White) and Jill. (Scott).

‘So, I think it’s a different team, it’s an exciting team – I whole-heartedly believe that. You can see that through the Women’s Super League and with players out in Europe – such as Keira Walsh, Lucy Bronze at Barcelona and Georgia with Bayern Munich – they are doing fantastically well and winning trophies.’

She added that the team has a ‘real wide variety of players’ and that ‘the kind of experience is invaluable when you are at the tournament’.

Following the Lioness’ Euro win last year, Earps carried out a campaign for greater access to sport for girls in school. She launched her own clothing brand MAE27 in June with t-shirt slogans including ‘be unapologetically yourself’ and ‘girls know the offside rule too’.

Source: Read Full Article