White wary of Fleeting forays

By Paul Saffer

England may be less than two months from their high-profile UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2005™ opener against Finland at the City of Manchester stadium, but they have a more pressing matter on their minds.

Keenly contested
Tonight they face an encounter with their 'Auld Enemy', Scotland, at Tranmere's Prenton Park, and while they may have only met five times before at women's senior level, compared to the 100-plus men's encounters, any match between these nations is always keenly contested.

Winning streak
For both teams, the EURO context adds extra spice. England are keen to continue their fine recent form where a six-game winning streak was only ended by a penalties loss to China at the Algarve Cup, while Scotland, who missed out on a play-off place by just a single point, will be keen to prove their worth against their rivals and avoid defeat against their neighbours for the first time.

'Big games'
Faye White, the England captain, is certainly excited by the occasion. "It's going to be interesting," she told uefa.com. "There are lots of big games coming up now as there always is at this stage of the season." In particular, the defender is relishing the chance to come up against Arsenal LFC team-mate Julie Fleeting, Scotland's prolific striker, who joined the club in January 2004.

Fleeting encounter
White said: "It's going to be a good test as we've seen first-hand how Julie has been for us since she joined the club. She's getting better as well - each game she produces the goods and we are having a good season." It will be a particular test, as Fleeting commutes south from her job as a PE teacher for each Arsenal match and does not practise with her club-mates.

New chance
"In training you usually get to play against your forwards but Julie lives in Scotland so we don't get that chance," White said. "I see what she does on a Sunday but I haven't had a chance to play against her in training so it should be interesting."

European experience
Arsenal's fine run in the UEFA Women's Cup, which ended on Friday with a semi-final defeat by Djurgården/Alvsjö, has been a boon in itself for England, who have several players from the team in their squad. White said of the four-year-old competition: "It tests you at a better level than in domestic football. Even when we went to Sweden we had to look at how we approach the games, it's not the same as when you play games in your league. As an opportunity leading up to EURO it's useful to have these sort of games."