Smith up for Arsenal adventure

It is not only the UEFA Champions League that the big guns enter on Tuesday - the UEFA Women's Cup second qualifying round kicks off, with the biggest names beginning their European campaigns. And while their male counterparts contemplate a trip to Hambuger SV, Arsenal LFC are in Russia for perhaps the toughest of the four groups, but have the not-so-secret weapon of the woman recently hailed as "the best in the world" by Netherlands coach Vera Pauw, playmaker Kelly Smith.

'Better than Prinz'
Smith had just struck a hat-trick against the Dutch for England in FIFA Women's World cup qualifying, leaving Pauw - a member of the UEFA Women's Football Committee - to declare that the Arsenal player was "better than Birgit Prinz". The 27-year-old, who is back to her best after a horrendous run of injuries, responded: "That's a nice thing to say, she's coached Scotland and Holland, is a top, top manager. For her to say that, I'm taken aback by it."

Tough group
England won 4-0 that day, and that sort of form would be handy for last season's quarter-finalists Arsenal, who have a tough start against WFC Rossiyanka - the Russian group hosts have dropped just two points in their 12 league games this year and boast the likes of Elena Morozova, Olga Petrova and Oxana Chmatchkova. They then meet 1. FC Femina Budapest, before a showdown with fellow seeds Brøndby IF, who beat Arsenal at this stage last season. However, the English champions have not lost since their quarter-final defeat by eventual winners Frankfurt last autumn.

'We'll go a long way'
Certainly Smith - who feels "fitter than ever" - is confident. No wonder, as seven of that England lineup against the Dutch were Arsenal players, even in the absence of captain and defender Faye White who is out until the spring with a knee ligament injury. The signings of winger Karen Carney and midfielder Katie Chapman have helped. Smith said. "They've played at international level, they know what to expect. I think we'll go a long way this year, we want to go one step further than we did last year, losing to Frankfurt in the quarter-finals. There is a lot more confidence this time, we are unbeaten in 12 months and that feeds back into the team. It's happy times right now for Arsenal and England."

European experience
Last season was Smith's first UEFA Women's Cup campaign, having spent seven years away in the United States since initially leaving Arsenal in 1997. And she appreciates the opportunities the competition brings. "Obviously playing in Europe is a lot faster," she said. "Playing against the better teams in Europe is where we should be playing for Arsenal."

World Cup dream
To continue that, they must reach the quarter-finals in mid-October with a top-two finish in Russia, and by then England hope to have qualified for the World Cup with at least a draw in France on 30 September. "The World Cup has always been a dream of mine," Smith said. "For us to get a win or a draw in France would mean so much. We can taste it, we want it so, so bad. It would bring the women's game on in England, and that's what we want to do."