Hege Riise keeps Hannah Hampton in mind and tells the keeper to keep believing
Hampton was said to be in tears when she discovered she would not be going to the Olympics.
England interim boss Hege Riise has spoken of the message of encouragement she gave to Hannah Hampton after the goalkeeper found out she would not be heading to this summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
Birmingham’s Hampton was said to be left in tears when players were told whether they would be making or missing out on the shortlist for Riise’s Great Britain squad shortly before the club’s match against Everton on March 11, which they lost 4-0.
The Football Association subsequently said the timing was an error and apologised to the clubs and players concerned.
Riise, who was not involved in the timing of the notifications, on Tuesday described the incident as “a big mistake” and said she had called Hampton to apologise when she found out what had happened.
“Young, talented goalkeeper coming up. It will be ups and downs, but keep fighting.
“And she was OK – of course disappointed, as she should (be), but that should just motivate her more to fight for the squad in the future.”
Riise said the notification timing was “not my call”, and added: “It was sent out a couple of hours before the game. It was a miscommunication, and it should not have happened.
Riise will name her GB squad for Tokyo in May.
Before that, the Norwegian – England’s temporary boss ahead of Sarina Wiegman taking charge in September – is set to oversee the Lionesses playing friendlies against France in Caen on April 9 and Canada at Stoke’s bet365 Stadium four days later.
Among the four goalkeepers included in the squad revealed on Tuesday was the recalled, experienced duo of Carly Telford and Karen Bardsley.
Other absentees from the 24 were injured skipper Steph Houghton and forward Nikita Parris.
Riise expressed her hope that Parris could join up with England at some point during the April camp.
When asked if there had been any indication the France game could be in danger of not taking place, Riise said “that will be a concern”, while stressing “our plan is to go to France and play, and we haven’t heard any different”.
Of the 24 players in the squad, 23 are white. The men’s squad has considerably more players from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Riise said: “I think the talent is the most important (thing), and we just need to be open to having everyone that wants to play having a chance to play.”
