🔗 Share this article

“She celebrated as if she had won the Champions League,” remarked England coach Sarina Wiegman with a grin.

And for Lucia Kendall, it was a near-equivalent experience.

This comment came as Wiegman spoke about the young midfielder’s ecstatic reaction to her maiden England goal – during the opening stages of a triumph over Ghana at St Mary's Stadium.

“The ground staff might need to repair that turf!” she added, referring to Kendall’s immaculate knee slide.

Rising to her feet among her celebrating colleagues, the young player wore an expression of overwhelming happiness.

A Fairytale Homecoming

Southampton was her home for ten years; she was a core player there after graduating from the academy and making 103 appearances prior to her summer transfer to Aston Villa.

So when she saw the ball hit the back of the net at St Mary's Stadium on her return, and on only her third England cap, it was the material of fairy tales.

“A really special moment for me to be able to do it here, where I grew up. This place forged the player I am,” Kendall stated.

“It seemed destined to happen. It was so special. I got flooded with emotion really.”

‘Things Have Gone So Quickly’

It may have been Southampton who “made” Kendall, but a big decision at the age of 15 proved pivotal to her future.

Despite being a talented cricketer (her father had a career with Hampshire), the looming demands of senior football at Southampton forced her hand. She went with football.

“It presented a dilemma. Juggling both became impossible,” Kendall explained in a October media conference.

“Growing up, I had a passion for cricket. The decision was genuinely tough. I went back and forth, but when the time came, I understood I enjoy football a bit more.”

A Chelsea supporter, her idol was the prolific England midfielder Frank Lampard, and Kendall’s early career is following that goalscoring trend.

Her ability to handle first-team football alongside a psychology degree signaled the drive and commitment required for the top level.

The club fought to keep her, but with her deal up, Villa moved decisively to introduce her to the top flight.

Her meteoric rise has seen her become a WSL fixture and an England international in a very brief period.

“Maintaining her level immediately in a new league and club is difficult, yet she has done so,” said Wiegman.

“Everything has happened at breakneck speed, but her ability to sustain her high standards is truly notable.”

Kendall certainly enjoyed herself at St Mary's, hitting the crossbar later in the first half and almost teeing up Villa team-mate Missy Bo Kearns for a goal, before Alessia Russo added a second with an injury-time penalty.

She came off after an hour to a roar from the home crowd and the enthusiastic voice of the stadium announcer boasting that she was “Southampton's very own”.

With 29 Southampton goals to her name, she noted, “The trust and consistent playing time I received from 16 was crucial.

“The constant faith they placed in me gave me the confidence to take the next step.

“I knew that I had to go in [to England] and prove why I should be playing at this level. The speed of the game is quicker and it was like going up a division.”

Acknowledgment of Her Football Intelligence

Kendall has made an immediate impression at international level, with observers stating she has just “understands the game” as a midfielder and looks like a “born talent”.

The England manager wants to manage her exposure, citing the roles of both media and club, but is reassured by the player’s modest nature.

Days after being called up by the Lionesses for the first time, Kendall was sitting in front of the media saying she was eager to impress, but also understood the need for the team's greater good and whatever role she needed to play in that.

Arsenal striker Alessia Russo said it felt like Kendall had “was an old hand” as she slotted straight into the squad.

“{This team's just gone on to win back-to