World Cup Diary: There was no better way to celebrate my 21st birthday!

There was no better way to start my birthday celebrations than with Monday night’s victory against Nigeria!

My heart was going really quickly on the side when that penalty shootout was happening but there was no better possible birthday present than to get the win and get to the next round.

There was a real sense of relief to get through and I’m just so proud of the girls for digging deep and getting the win. Watching it back, it is such a nice feeling to see that celebration and what it meant to us all.

It’s been a pretty crazy year for me. I’d have never expected to be here at the World Cup and then to spend my 21st birthday here is amazing and I’m so grateful.

Having my 21st birthday with this fantastic group of players and staff was really special. We had a travel day, so maybe not as exciting as training or having a game but everyone went out of their way to make it a memorable day for me.

I got a ‘happy birthday’ on the plane from Brisbane to Sydney at least three times from what I can remember from the pilot over the tannoy.

When we got back to the hotel, I was asked to head up to Lionesses: Down Under to join Millie (Bright), Jill (Scott) and Kyle (Walker) where they very kindly made a fuss of me.

I got a few presents. Jill got me some bath bombs to help me relax, some sweets and a little necklace with ‘Katie’ on it. I got a toy shark to paint and decorate from Kyle and a signed photo from Jill, which made me laugh. It was really, really sweet.

I then got to play The Tower game which is part of the show and got a birthday doughnut with some candles on it which was really thoughtful.

At dinner I got a big ‘happy birthday’ rendition from the team, which was nice – it was a lovely day.

I’m excited to see what happens this year. I just want to keep progressing but for now, we’re all just fully focused on a huge game on Saturday.

As for my 21st birthday, it was a day I will never forget!