England fans were like the 12th player says Mead following victory over Austria | OneFootball

Beth Mead has hailed the impact of the England fans after they helped the team to a 1-0 victory over Austria at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

England got their UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 campaign off to a winning start at ‘The Theatre of Dreams’ in front of an all-time tournament best crowd of 68,871.

The Lionesses were not at their most fluid in the game with Austria proving a tough nut to crack. The noise generated inside Old Trafford was unbelievable and Mead said that this was a factor in helping the team to get over the line.

“The fans were like the 12th player,” Mead said when speaking on the latest broadcast of Lionesses Live. “Sometimes, when you’re a little bit tired and you need an extra buzz….the crowd gave us energy so credit to them, they helped us.

“Mentally and physically, it was a big day for us all but the fans helped us through every inch of that game.”

It was a little cagey before Mead netted the game’s only goal after 16 minutes. She went on to highlight the emotions that were running through the team ahead of kick-off as England walked out at Old Trafford.

She said “It was insane. A lot of the girls were pretty emotional walking out and the noise from the fans was deafening. It was great to see our families in the stands, but we tried not to make eye contact with them because they were crying. I’ll never be able to describe the feeling.”

England have bonded well over the last four weeks in the lead up to the UEFA Women’s EURO and there is a feeling that this group of Lionesses can achieve big things.

“The girls have honestly been incredible in the build-up to the tournament,” Mead said. “There’s been a little bit of pressure on us, but we’re such a close group and we’ve looked after each other.

“It’s evident on the pitch, you can see we want to fight for every ball for each other. We know it’s not always going to be smooth sailing and we’re not always going to play our best football, but if we collectively join together, we can pull off something big.”

Fans can watch the latest edition of Lionesses Live by clicking here.