Former England goalkeeper Mary Earps felt 'villainized' after retirement
FILE - England's Mary Earps waves to supporters after the International friendly women soccer match between England and United States at Wembley stadium in London, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
Former England goalkeeper Mary Earps said she felt villainized after she announced her retirement from international soccer ahead of the European Championship.
Earps became a national hero for her role in England's victory at the last Euros in 2022 and its run to the World Cup final a year later.
Advertisement
But she has spoken out about the treatment she received when deciding to end her England career last month — just weeks before the team starts its defense of the trophy in Switzerland.
Earps did not specify where the criticism came from, but said it was 'difficult and it was painful' and that she was 'villainized in a way.'
The 32-year-old Paris Saint-Germain keeper won the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award after the World Cup, in which she collected the golden glove for the best goalkeeper in the tournament and also saved a penalty in the final.
At the time of her retirement, Earps said she was stepping aside to give an opportunity to a younger generation.
Advertisement
Speaking to the podcast "Fearne Cotton's Happy Place," she said it was difficult to see her friends and family dealing with comments made about her decision.
'I know you've seen something and then I'm like upset for them because I'm like 'You didn't choose this, you've got to now deal with this,' and I'm then gutted for them,' she said.
___
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Former Soccer Player Says They Were ‘Villainized' After Retirement
Mary Earps looks on prior to the Arkema Premiere Ligue Feminine Semi Final match between Paris Saint-Germain and Paris FC on May 11 in Paris. Franco Arland via Getty Images Former England goalkeeper Mary Earps said she felt villainized after she announced her retirement from international soccer ahead of the European Championship. Earps became a national hero for her role in England's victory at the last Euros in 2022 and its run to the World Cup final a year later. Advertisement But she has spoken out about the treatment she received when deciding to end her England career last month — just weeks before the team starts its defense of the trophy in Switzerland. Earps did not specify where the criticism came from, but said it was 'difficult and it was painful' and that she was 'villainized in a way.' The 32-year-old Paris Saint-Germain keeper won the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award after the World Cup, in which she collected the golden glove for the best goalkeeper in the tournament and also saved a penalty in the final. At the time of her retirement, Earps said she was stepping aside to give an opportunity to a younger generation. Advertisement Speaking to the podcast 'Fearne Cotton's Happy Place,' she said it was difficult to see her friends and family dealing with comments made about her decision. 'I know you've seen something and then I'm like upset for them because I'm like 'You didn't choose this, you've got to now deal with this,' and I'm then gutted for them,' she said.
Fox Sports
20 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Basement to Big Stage: Brothers Brenden, Paxten Aaronson on U.S. Gold Cup Roster
Brenden and Paxten Aaronson play on better soccer fields these days than the New Jersey basement, known as "The Dungeon," where they used to practice penalties and free kicks. "We had to put in special lights so they wouldn't kick the light bulbs and break them," mom Janell Aaronson recalled. "We had to do some padding on some of the poles that are in the basement so they didn't get hurt. We made it as safe as we could." On June 10, she was in the stands at GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tennessee, watching them become just the fourth pair of brothers to start the same match together for the U.S. national team, the first since George and Louis Nanchoff against the Soviet Union in 1979. "I played with this guy since, I don't know, 5 — he was probably actually 2 at that time," Brenden said. "Maybe 7, I was, and he was probably 4." Brenden, 24, is already a World Cup veteran, appearing as a substitute in all four U.S. matches in Qatar three years ago. Paxten, who turns 22 in August, hopes to make the World Cup roster for the first time when the U.S. co-hosts next year's tournament. "Completely different players," U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. "Both in different ways can perform." Both are on the roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, where the Americans play Guatemala on Wednesday night (7 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app) and hope to advance to a final against Mexico or Honduras on Sunday. Both are midfielders and wingers who made their way up through the Philadelphia Union academy system and moved to Europe after two seasons in Major League Soccer, Paxten at age 19 and Brenden at 20. At the start of their national team camp together, they reflected on learning the sport in their backyard and how the downstairs room was given its nickname by their dad, Rusty. "We always played in the basement, right before or after dinner," Paxten said. "We had a basement with kind of like a mini-pitch that we built off of carpet and goals that we taped on the wall and stuff like that. So we would always just play down there and then come up for dinner, then after dinner go down and play. We broke a lot of lights." And learned competition. "Toes have been stepped on," Paxten said. Rusty, who played college soccer at Monmouth, ran a risk management firm and is sporting director of Real Futbol Academy in Medford, New Jersey. In addition to the brothers, 18-year-old sister Jaden will be a freshman on Villanova's soccer team this fall. "I don't know how these guys do it without having a younger brother or someone to train with," Brenden said. "When you're in a shooting drill, sometimes you can take time off. But you know he's going to want to beat me, and I'm going to want to be him, so you go that extra mile to keep even getting better at it." Brenden scored in his MLS debut with Philadelphia in March 2019 and has played for Salzburg (2021-22), Leeds (2022-25) and Union Berlin (2023-24). He made his U.S. debut in 2020 and has nine goals in 51 international appearances. Paxten debuted in MLS with the Union in May 2021 and has played for Eintracht Frankfurt (2023-24), Vitesse (2024) and Utrecht (2024-25). He made his first U.S. appearance in 2023 and scored against New Zealand at last year's Olympics. Before the match against Switzerland, they hadn't played on the same team together since the youth academy. They faced each other briefly on Nov. 4, 2023, when Brenden entered in the 83rd minute for Eintracht Frankfurt and Paxten in the 85th for host Union Berlin. "There [have] been some fights throughout the years," Brenden said, with Paxten sitting adjacent and laughing. "It's more in the one v. ones when I would get [beaten] by him. Because you're the older [brother], you feel like you have to win. But he [has beaten] me a handful of times where I had a temper tantrum. "I was kicking the ball against the wall. I literally — I can't take it sometimes." But afterward, they resumed playing the FIFA video game. After the Gold Cup and brief time off, Brenden will return to England to prepare for the Premier League season with newly promoted Leeds. Paxten will report to Eintracht Frankfurt unless he's loaned again. Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily ! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience FIFA Men's World Cup United States recommended Get more from Gold Cup Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Impressive Rew hits England U19s' fastest century
Rew has played three first-team matches for Somerset - all of them T20s [Getty Images] Second youth one-day international, Northampton India Under-19s 290 all out (49 overs): Malhotra 49 (68); French 4-71 England Under-19s 291-9 (49.3 overs): Rew 131 (89); Ambrish 4-80 England won by one wicket Advertisement Scorecard Somerset 17-year-old Thomas Rew hit the fastest one-day century for England Under-19s as they levelled their 50-over series against India with a tense one-wicket win in Northampton. England captain Rew made a sublime 131 from 89 balls, an innings packed full of effortless strokeplay, to break the back of a chase of 291 with England winning with three balls to spare. Rew's dismissal in the 40th over was the first of five lost for 49, leaving final pair Seb Morgan and Alex French to get 12 from 11 balls. But while Morgan showed superb nerve to end 20 not out - he hit a four to seal the win halfway through the final over - the match will be best remembered for the innings of diminutive right-hander Rew, the younger brother of recent England call-up James. Advertisement Having come in at 47-3, Rew reached three figures in 73 balls - six deliveries quicker than Ben Foakes, who held the record after his century against New Zealand in 2012. He put on 123 in 128 balls with Rocky Flintoff, the son of England legend Andrew, who was England's next highest scorer with 39 off 68. Rew targeted the leg side against India's spinners with powerful pulls and slog sweeps while also playing an inventive reverse sweep for four, a glorious drive high over long-on off leg-spinner Mohammed Enaan for six and taking seamer RS Ambrish for 19 runs in one over with off-side drives. And while his highly-rated brother has scored 10 first-class centuries by the age of 21, he did not score a century at Under-19 level, meaning the younger sibling has pipped him to that mark. Advertisement "There is a lot of competition in our family," Rew said. "He messaged me just now saying 'well done' which is nice of him. "It is up there [with the best innings he has played]. Once I got going I targeted the short boundary and tried to put the pressure back on the bowlers. "The way Rocky spoke to me and we batted together, really helped us get on the front foot." Rew joined Somerset's academy in 2023, a year after his brother, now 21, made his first-class debut. James, who has said Thomas is "further ahead" than him at the same age, was named the Professional Cricket Association's men's young player of the year in 2023, having become Somerset's youngest double centurion earlier that year. Advertisement He was called into England's squad for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe earlier this year but did not play. The five-match series continues at Northampton on Wednesday. Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the 14-year-old who hit a century in the Indian Premier League earlier this year, also made 45 in India's 290 all out. Surrey seamer French took 4-71 for England. England U19s fastest Youth ODI hundreds 73 balls - Thomas Rew v India, Northampton, 2025 79 balls - Ben Foakes v New Zealand, Townsville, 2012 80 balls - Tom Alsop v South Africa, Nottingham, 2014 81 balls - Will Rhodes v Pakistan, Sleaford, 2013 84 balls - Harry Brook v Bangladesh, Queenstown, 2018
