Yankey insists World Cup takes priority over Olympics
RACHEL Yankey insists winning the World Cup remains the ultimate ambition despite the fact she will play a key part in Great Britain's bid for Olympic gold at London 2012.
FOCUS: Rachel Yankey is set to win her 100th England cap - but success at the World Cup takes priority over the Olympics, she insists (Action Images)
Yankey, 31, is set to win her 100th cap for England, having been named in Hope Powell's squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifier with Turkey, where victory would guarantee a play-off place for Germany 2011.
While Fabio Capello's men floundered in South Africa, their female counterparts have excelled at major tournaments and finished runners-up to Germany at last year's European Championships in 2009 in Finland.
Yankey is arguably England's most well-known footballer - the female David Beckham, but she fell out of favour with Powell and was not selected in her 22-strong squad for Finland.
The World Cup campaign has seen Yankey, who has 12 international goals to her name, called back to the England set-up however, and her experience will prove pivotal should Powell's side book their place in Germany.
In the same vein as the male team, Great Britain's female Olympics team will be comprised solely of players from England, but one key difference will be an absence of age restrictions within the squad.
Another contrast would be that while the men's competition would feature only a handful of the world's finest players, the cream of the women's crop would be out in force.
That will no doubt give Yankey the chance to bid for Olympic gold with Great Britain, who would qualify for their first ever Games, courtesy of hosting the tournament.
But Yankey remains adamant that the World Cup remains the pinnacle of her sport.
"I would love to be able to take part in an Olympics and the fact that it is on home soil would make it even better," said Yankey, who is currently in her second spell with Arsenal Ladies.
"It's another major competition where the players would get great experience of playing in front of large crowds and against the best players in the world.
"But I think that as a footballer you always dream about winning the World Cup and that remains the number one goal within the sport.
"The Olympics would be like nothing else because you'd be part of the bigger Great Britain team and you'd mix with all the other athletes.
"But it doesn't get any bigger than the World Cup and for the time-being we're focusing on making sure of our place at Germany 2011."
Working...
Comments
The exact reason why
The exact reason why football should not be included in the Olympic Games
Post new comment