Published 24 February 2022 4 min read
Lauren Hemp
Lauren Hemp aiming to use Arnold Clark Cup success as EURO boost
England ace reflects on Arnold Clark Cup title as squad now turn their attentions to EURO 2022 this summer
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Lauren Hemp is hoping England’s victorious Arnold Clark Cup campaign will help build momentum for this summer’s EURO Finals on home soil.
The Lionesses were crowned as champions in the inaugural Arnold Clark Cup, after convincingly beating Germany by 3-1 at Molineux on Wednesday evening.
Goals from Ellen White, Millie Bright and Fran Kirby sealed the title with their first win of the competition, after previously drawing against Olympic champions Canada and Spain.
And while Hemp, who excelled on the left wing, was delighted with winning the competition her main focus is looking ahead to the future with EURO 2022 just around the corner.
“I’m delighted to win this tournament,” she said.
“It's something that we needed as players, three top class oppositions and we’ve learnt a lot about ourselves and a lot of positives and things we need to work on to take into July.”
Combined crowds of over 30,000 showed up to support England over the three games at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium, in Hemp’s hometown of Norwich at Carrow Road and finally at Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Molineux Stadium where England sealed the title on goal difference.
And with plenty more football on home soil to come this year, it’s something that Hemp was delighted to see throughout the tournament in preparation for the summer.
“Yeah, it’s been great,” she added.
“We’ve had a lot of fans around and it’s been fantastic and hopefully it will have attracted lots of fans for the EUROs and it’s great being in different places in the country as that helps create so much rapport and hopefully that stays with us throughout our summer.”
The Lionesses kick off their EURO campaign against Austria on 6 July at Old Trafford.
With Northern Ireland and Norway also in Group A. Hemp and the rest of the squad have used the Arnold Clark Cup as a warmup for the competition and the Manchester City forward wants the Lionesses to go into the tournament in the best shape and position possible.
24 Feb 2022
7:23
Highlights: England 3-1 Germany
Watch the best of the action from Molineux as England win the first-ever Arnold Clark Cup
“I think it’s about being in the best possible place going into the EUROs,” she said.
“For us now, we’ve won this tournament but we know now we still have to progress as a team.
“We still need to work on certain things but right now we’re in a really good place and to win this tournament is special. But hopefully this can encourage more people to come and watch us in the EUROs.
“Hopefully they’ll really get behind us and show support like they did with the men during the last EUROs.
“I think it’d be great to feel that kind of buzz around the place. But overall, we’re happy we’ve played some top-quality opposition.
“We’ve learnt a lot about ourselves and how we can improve and move forward.”