After making her debut as an England international earlier this year, Grace Clinton saw Spurs teammate Jessica Naz make her England debut on Friday against the Republic of Ireland. Naz is the first Tottenham Hotspur Women academy product to reach the England women’s national team.
Prior to Bethany England joining Tottenham Hotspur, the North London side had not one English international in their squad and yet she became their only representation for a substantial period of time.
That was until Robert Vilahamn arrived and transformed the squad; his progressive style of play suited players in making a difference, letting them thrive and the relative success of his first season at the club allowed their names to be put on the map. It also has meant Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses squad has seen the addition of two young Spurs players.
Grace Clinton broke into the squad first; she saw more regular game time in the WSL after joining the Lilywhites from Manchester United on loan last summer. October 2023 was when the midfielder received her call up, after vividly impressing for Spurs early on. Her debut came a little later in February where she scored on her debut, adding to the tally which the team racked up in a friendly against Italy.
Most recently Clinton has been joined by another young Spurs face in camp.
Jessica Naz was called up to the previous international camp after a personally successful season; she scored 7 goals in her fifth year in Spurs colours. In this set of international fixtures, Naz came off the bench to make her debut and within minutes added energy and dimension to the European qualifier against the Republic of Ireland. The Lionesses were leading 2-0 where the forward had her largest impact of the game, storming down a clearance and striking the woodwork from a tight angle.
Comments