Jodie Taylor 'super excited' by England Women's growth since 2015 World Cup

Image: Jodie Taylor won the Golden Boot at Euro 2017

Jodie Taylor remembers England Women's last clash with Canada as an "incredible" occasion - and feels how the Lionesses have grown since then is "super exciting".

The meeting in 2015 saw Taylor score the opener as England moved into their first Women's World Cup semi-final with a 2-1 victory over the tournament hosts in Vancouver.

They subsequently finished third, then reached the semi-finals of Euro 2017 in Holland, with Taylor claiming the Golden Boot.

Image: England Women won the SheBelieves Cup in preparation for this summer's World Cup

As their preparations for this summer's World Cup continue, they face Canada once again on Friday in Manchester, the first of four warm-up matches between now and the World Cup.

Complete football offer

See The Run In on Sky Sports with 2 football channels for the price of 1

Reflecting on the 2015 match, Taylor said: "I remember it like it was just yesterday. I would have to say it's one of my favourite games of all time.

Advertisement

"Just everything about it. BC Place was unbelievable, filling the whole stadium with mainly Canadian fans, and just the nature of the game, it being a quarter-final. The pressure of England having never got beyond a quarter-final [at a World Cup].

England's Toni Duggan and Jodie Taylor explain what head coach Phil Neville has brought to the team since taking charge

"It was the nature of how we won it, playing there and Canada being the host nation. It was incredible.

Also See:

"I'll tell you one of my favourite moments was scoring. It absolutely silenced the crowd. It was unreal. Then when we were 2-0 up they scored a goal and the whole place just erupted. It just shook and it was just insane.

"Just to win that game - it was 'wow'."

Neville says his squad will have to become familiar with VAR before it is used at the World Cup in France next summer

The 32-year-old, who plays for Reign FC in the United States, had suffered a knee injury not long before the tournament in Canada.

She added: "It's crazy to think I managed to play the whole 90 minutes in Vancouver. I was having to play catch-up with my knee.

"I didn't know if I'd be selected for the World Cup, I was selected but even then I had no idea until about halfway through if I'd even be able to play.

"Now I'm fully fit so to stay fully fit and healthy is obviously the goal for the next couple of months.

"It's exciting times to think, looking back from that World Cup to this one, how far we've come as a team, how we've really grown. It really is super exciting. I really can't wait."

Play Super 6

Predict 6 correct scores for your chance to win £250K.

Outbrain