Jess Naz on reaching FA Cup final: “Everyone dug in until the end” | OneFootball

Our historic run in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup continued after a 2-1 victory over Leicester City on Sunday and Jess Naz admits it will be a ‘dream come true’ to compete in next month’s showpiece final at Wembley.

One of our longest serving players in the squad, in her fifth season at the Club, and she kicked started a memorable afternoon at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as, after finding ourselves behind through Jutta Rantala’s strike in the first half, our number seven stepped up to grab the all-important equaliser with just seven minutes remaining of normal time.

She reacted the quickest to a mis-timed clearance from Bethany England’s long ball forward, allowing Jess to burst through on-goal and, despite our FA Cup journey at stake, she wasn’t fazed and showed composure to calmly slot the ball into the bottom corner.

Her goal sent the game into extra time and, in the 118th minute, Martha Thomas secured the win in front of over 18,000 supporters at our world-class stadium.

Speaking to The Review Show after the game, Jess said: “I did quite a lot running in that game and I had a few chances before that, but I knew if I got that chance, I would need to keep that composure and slot it.

“I think we started the game very well, but we just weren’t finishing our chances, to get that one over the line, the roar in the stadium, I think, it gave us that extra boost to go on and win the game.”

“We just knew we needed to keep the ball and try to find the right moment to score as it was quite counter-attacking football. I just knew if we kept our quality then we would get the goal in the end.”

Our number seven was also quick to praise the efforts of her team after gruelling 120 minutes: “I was getting cramp every second, but I knew I had to dig in for the team. It was a team performance, everyone dug in until the end, and it was great to get the win.”

Once the full-time whistle, unsurprisingly, it sparked jubilant scenes inside the stadium as players and staff soaked in the atmosphere before a lap around the pitch to celebrate with the supporters.

“This stadium is magical,” our number seven replied when asked playing at our world-class stadium. “We have created history twice here, it’s just amazing. For me, personally, it will be an unbelievable feeling to play at Wembley, it’s a dream come true.”

Watch - Goalscorer Naz reflects on FA Cup semi-final victory over Leicester