Beth Mead of the English national team scored a record five goals in the group stage of the European football tournament. A year ago, he didn’t even fit into the competition team.
In the summer of 2021 Beth Mead your heart
At the helm of the England women’s national football team Phil Neville’s after temporarily jumped Hege Riise assembled Great Britain’s team for the Tokyo Olympics. However, Mead’s name was not found on the player list.
Mead may have foreseen this, because for one reason or another the Norwegian Riise, who was washed as the head coach after half a year’s blunder, did not value the attacking star who played in the English Super League very highly.
Reese’s appreciation for Mead was also evident in practice matches played before the Olympic team was named. The Norwegian left the Arsenal striker out of the England set-up (you move to another service)sat him on the bench and even played him in a defensive role, even though he had played his entire career as a center forward or a winger.
All this was too much for Mead, who played 25 international matches and impressed with his stellar performances at the 2019 World Cup. In his mind, the Olympic dream turned into anger, which he uses as mental fuel to pursue his next dreams.
Instead, the Olympic tournament was a bitter disappointment for the British, when the team lost to Australia in the quarterfinals of the tournament in extra time with 3–4 goals.
Always a talented scorer
In 2011, already at the age of 16, Mead, who joined the ranks of English second-tier Sunderland and promoted to the Super League with the team, has always been a talented goalscorer. One of the victims has also been the Finnish under-19 girls’ national team, which Mead sank in the EC semi-finals in 2013.
In her first season at the country’s highest league level, Mead won the Superliga goal queen title after scoring 12 goals in 14 matches as proof of her goalscoring prowess. In all, the striker from Whitby, just over an hour away from Sunderland, scored a whopping 77 goals in 78 games for Sunderland.
Even though Mead became a professional soccer player with the promotion, he still did not compromise on his academic goals.
Earlier in his career, Mead had worked in a local pub to enable his football career, but his first season as a professional was spent studying while he completed his sports science studies at Teesside University. Today, the university has Meadin named scholarship program (you move to another service)which supports talented female soccer players.
The dizzying goal streak in Sunderland soon attracted the interest of even bigger clubs, and Mead joined the ranks of Arsenal in 2017. The first call-up to the national team followed in 2018, and soon Mead was already a familiar sight in the shirt of the Lionesses team coached by Neville.
In the club team, Mead had to give way in the autumn of 2018 from his position, the center forward’s plot, when Arsenal acquired a Dutch star in their ranks Vivianne Miedeman. Mead was not discouraged by this, but took over his new playing position on the right wing brilliantly. Although Miedema took Mead’s place at the top of the team’s scoring statistics, he was number one in assists and scoring chances created.
The coach gave the options: fish & chips or hard work
Although the 2019 season was strong, Mead’s place in England’s World Cup team was not guaranteed. Coach Neville even threatened to leave his attacking star out of the team.
– I asked him if he wants to go on holiday to Blackpool or chase the stars. Earlier, he seemed content to be allowed to go to the seaside for fish and chips, Neville remembered his call (you switch to another service) With Mead for the British newspaper Guardian.
Neville gave Mead one match to show he belonged in a competitive team. The coaching worked, because Mead, who convinced the coaching team after the threats, played well in the World Cup and helped the team all the way to the semi-finals.
Although Neville and Mead once clashed (Neville also recalled that he really pissed off the forward after dropping him from the lineup against the United States in 2020), Mead received more motivation to improve his grip from the high level of coaching.
The same thing happened in the fall of 2021, when Riise had dropped its star striker from the Great Britain Olympic team: Mead decided to show his skills.
Wiegman’s trust has paid off
Anger turned into motivation, and the Arsenal star scored 11 goals for his team in the Superliga in the 2021-22 season and assisted nine more while playing in the team’s starting line-up for every match. Mead was also named league player of the month once.
After Great Britain’s disappointing Olympic Games, the helm of the England women’s national team was taken by the Dutchman who led the Netherlands to European Championship gold and the World Cup final Sarina Wiegman. The Dutchman did not feel Riise’s distaste for Mead’s playing, but picked him up back to the opening of the national team (you will switch to another service).
Mead was grateful for the opportunity. This year, England have scored 11 goals in as many matches. The trip also includes one memorable goal as Mead unleashed a packed Old Trafford crowd to celebrate the opening goal of the European Championship and the match win against Austria.
The fireworks continued when Mead scored a hat-trick in Norway’s net in England’s 8–0 win, and completed the final game of the group stage once again in Northern Ireland’s net. Five goals in the group stage was also an EC record and the English star is deservedly at the top of the tournament’s goal statistics.
In the semi-final, they will face rock-hard Sweden, but England will definitely want to progress to the final and a packed Wembley in their home games. It remains to be seen if Mead and his teammates can bring the football home.
The semi-final between England and Sweden live on Areena, TV2 and the app from 21:15. You can find everything about the European Championships on ‘s competition page here.