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<SPAN class=art-title2>Rachel Yankey: Playing to win</SPAN> <TABLE cellSpacing=5 cellPadding=5 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
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<SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>In full flow wearing the three lions of England, Rachel Yankey spoke exclusively to FIFA.com about her hopes of landing both the UEFA Women's Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2007. Image courtesy of www.thefa.com
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<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">(FIFA.com)</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">17 Jan 2007</SPAN>
<SPAN class=art-text>Though still only 27, Rachel Yankey has already crammed enough into her remarkable career to be considered one of Britain's most prominent and influential pioneers for the women's game.
The Arsenal and England forward made history, after all, by becoming the country's first professional female footballer at the tender age of 20, and again five years later when she was named an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to sport. Yet, for all this, and despite the three league titles, five FA Cups and 66 international caps on which she can look back, Yankey welcomed in 2007 with the gleeful, nervous anticipation of a youngster just starting out in the game.
Why? Because this year promises to be her most rewarding yet.
The opportunity to venture into uncharted territory with both club and country beckons, a challenge she will begin tackling in late April with Arsenal's two-legged duelagainst Umea of Swedenin the UEFA Women's Cup final. For Yankey, whose club career started with the Gunners at 16 and has now come full circle after spells with Canada's Laval Dynamite, Fulham, Birmingham City and USA's New Jersey Wildcats, the prospect of conquering Europe in the red-and-white jersey is the stuff of dreams, particularly as she grew up supporting the club from the Highbury terraces.
UEFA's club showpiece seems destined, however, to remain merely the second-most significant event on the 27-year-old's calendar, with September's FIFA's Women's World Cupbringing with it an opportunity to address the one, glaring omission on her glittering CV. Yankey, who was just 15 when England's women made their only prior appearance on the world stage, knows that her national team approach the competition as underdogs, as do Arsenal theirs, but in an exclusive interview with FIFA.com, she insisted that both will be playing to win.
FIFA.com: Rachel, you have quite a year to look forward to. With the UEFA Cup final first on the agenda, how satisfying is it to have reached this stage of the competition?
Rachel Yankey: It's pretty crazy actually, thinking that we have a European final just round the corner, and it really is incredibly satisfying. We knew Brondby would be a massive test for us in the semi-finals because we'd played them in group stages last year and lost, but there was a big belief this time that we could go all the way and in the end we fully deserved to go through. The squad has really come together over the past year, I think, and it's such a strong group of players that you have competition for every position. It's meant that, when one player is out, someone else slots in and no-one really notices the difference. I think that Vic (Akers, Arsenal coach) must be delighted with how we've gelled together, given that we've been without some top players like Faye (White) and Kelly (Smith) because of injury.<TABLE id=IMGTAB height=150 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width=150 align=left summary="" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><IMG id=SECIMG20938 height=150 alt="Standing shoulder to shoulder with David Beckham (L) and Frank Lampard at an England kit launch, Yankey talents have
<SPAN class=art-title2>Rachel Yankey: Playing to win</SPAN> <TABLE cellSpacing=5 cellPadding=5 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR class=paddingall><TD vAlign=top>
<SPAN class=textblack11px_normal>In full flow wearing the three lions of England, Rachel Yankey spoke exclusively to FIFA.com about her hopes of landing both the UEFA Women's Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2007. Image courtesy of www.thefa.com</SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">(FIFA.com)</SPAN> <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">17 Jan 2007</SPAN>
<SPAN class=art-text>Though still only 27, Rachel Yankey has already crammed enough into her remarkable career to be considered one of Britain's most prominent and influential pioneers for the women's game.
The Arsenal and England forward made history, after all, by becoming the country's first professional female footballer at the tender age of 20, and again five years later when she was named an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to sport. Yet, for all this, and despite the three league titles, five FA Cups and 66 international caps on which she can look back, Yankey welcomed in 2007 with the gleeful, nervous anticipation of a youngster just starting out in the game.
Why? Because this year promises to be her most rewarding yet.
The opportunity to venture into uncharted territory with both club and country beckons, a challenge she will begin tackling in late April with Arsenal's two-legged duelagainst Umea of Swedenin the UEFA Women's Cup final. For Yankey, whose club career started with the Gunners at 16 and has now come full circle after spells with Canada's Laval Dynamite, Fulham, Birmingham City and USA's New Jersey Wildcats, the prospect of conquering Europe in the red-and-white jersey is the stuff of dreams, particularly as she grew up supporting the club from the Highbury terraces.
UEFA's club showpiece seems destined, however, to remain merely the second-most significant event on the 27-year-old's calendar, with September's FIFA's Women's World Cupbringing with it an opportunity to address the one, glaring omission on her glittering CV. Yankey, who was just 15 when England's women made their only prior appearance on the world stage, knows that her national team approach the competition as underdogs, as do Arsenal theirs, but in an exclusive interview with FIFA.com, she insisted that both will be playing to win.
FIFA.com: Rachel, you have quite a year to look forward to. With the UEFA Cup final first on the agenda, how satisfying is it to have reached this stage of the competition?
Rachel Yankey: It's pretty crazy actually, thinking that we have a European final just round the corner, and it really is incredibly satisfying. We knew Brondby would be a massive test for us in the semi-finals because we'd played them in group stages last year and lost, but there was a big belief this time that we could go all the way and in the end we fully deserved to go through. The squad has really come together over the past year, I think, and it's such a strong group of players that you have competition for every position. It's meant that, when one player is out, someone else slots in and no-one really notices the difference. I think that Vic (Akers, Arsenal coach) must be delighted with how we've gelled together, given that we've been without some top players like Faye (White) and Kelly (Smith) because of injury.<TABLE id=IMGTAB height=150 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width=150 align=left summary="" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><IMG id=SECIMG20938 height=150 alt="Standing shoulder to shoulder with David Beckham (L) and Frank Lampard at an England kit launch, Yankey talents have
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