Arsenal forward Beth Mead returns to the England squad after an ACL injury.
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Mead has been named in Sarina Wiegman’s squad for next month’s Women’s National League matches against Netherlands and Scotland. This comes 364 days after she had ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament playing for Arsenal. The injury ruled her out of the World Cup this summer.
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The forward returned to action with Arsenal in October, and made her first start of the season in Sunday’s (19) 3-0 win over Brighton in the Women’s Super League. Wiegman revealed that she and Mead had been having conversations before her return. “We’ve had conversations all the time. We had some before the September camp and in October too because she was already fully training and getting some minutes then. I wanted to see a little more and that’s what we have seen now”.
Mead recently revealed she went through some “very dark moments”. Aside from missing the World Cup due to her injury, she also lost her mom, who died in January after a battle with cancer. The forward is leading Common Goal’s initiative Create the Space, a campaign to help the deepening mental health crisis in football and society. “In January I lost my Mum and because of the injury I couldn’t play football, which was always my escape, my happy place. Moments when people thought I was fine because of my outgoing personality, were very dark”, Mead said.
“It’s been a tough process to understand. Teammates, people at the club, family and friends that supported me were so important, without them I could have been in a far darker place. I want to help create an environment in which it’s totally normal to address mental health”, she explained.