Women's Euro 2017: Jermaine Jenas backs England's Lionesses to avenge their World Cup heartbreak in Holland
Jenas believes England have the talent to win the tournament this summer
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Your support makes all the difference.The months of June and July usually signal a time of rest and relaxation for current and former footballers alike, in their otherwise hectic schedules.
But Jermaine Jenas has not had the time to enjoy such luxuries. Instead he is being kept busy by the Women’s European Championships, which he is covering as a pundit for Channel 4, beginning on Sunday.
And the former Tottenham midfielder is confident that the tournament will further enhance the women’s game and build on the excitement already generated by the FA Women’s Premier League.
“I have got daughters and within schools there is this kind of buzz around women’s football,” he told The Independent.
“I think it is do with what they are doing with their own league and how much publicity it is getting and how seriously the clubs are now taking it.
“It (the game) is definitely looking like a stronger avenue in sport for women,” he added.
Jenas also credits the success of the England women’s team at the 2015 Women’s World Cup as another major factor in the sport’s growing popularity.
England suffered heartbreak in the semi-final in Canada, after Laura Bassett’s own goal in the last minute. But Jenas said the Lionesses will be all the stronger for that difficult experience.
“The good times in major tournaments when you’re winning games and matches are going well are easy,” he said.
“It is the tough moments that they have been through as a squad where they can look at each other and say ‘we have been here before and we have got ourselves out of this’, or worst case scenario ‘yes we’ve been beaten but we will continue to get stronger and stronger” which will give confidence to the players that they can handle the pressure better than they did last time.
“What England managed to do in 2015 will bond the players that were there and hopefully the new players that have come into the team will be bonded by the experience of those players as well.
“Tournament matches are not like every other game, the stakes are a lot higher, the intensity of the crowds is higher, you’re representing your country, and therefore the spotlight that is on you is far greater, so you need each other.”
Those bonds will need to be strong if England are to go a couple of steps further in the Netherlands than they managed two years ago in Canada. But Jenas sees no reason why Mark Sampson’s side cannot be crowned European champions.
“I think we can definitely win it,” he said.
“Within major tournaments it is all about getting on a roll and instilling that confidence within the group of players that you’ve got. I think how they manage their group games is really important because they need to try and avoid one of those top teams that they could possibly come up against in the quarter-finals or semi-finals.
“But the way the team looks and the way it is set up and the way they are going into the Championships they are definitely one of the favourites.”
England may fancy their chances, but the chain of six consecutive European titles that Germany have achieved may prove to be an insurmountable stumbling block.
The consistency of Steffi Jones’ side in the competition is a daunting statistic, despite their tournament opener ending in a 0-0 draw against Sweden on Monday night.
“You cannot read too much into Germany drawing one of their games because they’ve won the competition six times, so their experience, not just on the pitch, because they have lost quite a lot of experienced players, but also in their organisation is vital because they know how to get to the final and win this, so they’ll definitely still be clear favourites.”
Watch England v Scotland in the UEFA Women’s Euro exclusively live on Channel 4 on Wednesday 19 July. You can join the conversation using #Lionesses and for more information visit this link.