Euro 2022: England winger Beth Mead not interested in Golden Boot talk yet
- Published
Highlights: Watch England beat Austria in opening match of Euro 2022
Uefa Women's Euro 2022 |
|---|
Host country: England Dates: 6-31 July |
Coverage: All 31 games will be shown live across the BBC. Click here for more information |
England winger Beth Mead says it is too early for her to think about the Euro 2022 Golden Boot after opening her account on Wednesday.
Mead scored the only goal as the Lionesses got off to a winning start by beating Austria at Old Trafford.
The Arsenal winger's deft finish was her 15th England goal since boss Sarina Wiegman took charge in September.
"I think it's not something I've thought about," Mead said when asked about the Golden Boot.
"There's some incredible scorers in this competition. I just want to enjoy my football and hopefully the goals, or assists, or whatever it may be will come."
England's Jodie Taylor won the Golden Boot at Euro 2017 with five goals while all-time leading goalscorer Ellen White was the joint highest scorer at the 2019 World Cup with six.
"I was joking, saying to Ellen I'm after her!," added 27-year-old Mead, who has 23 goals in 40 England caps.
"I'm just happy to get goals for the team, and the goal [against Austria[ was a big one."
While England secured all three points in front of a 68,871-strong crowd, a record for a European Women's Championship game, boss Wiegman - who won the 2017 tournament with the Netherlands - stressed that her team "can do better".
"You can't always win pretty and it wasn't our best performance," said Mead.
"But we go to the training pitch, we learn from it."
Mead's fellow winger Lauren Hemp agreed that England can improve on Wednesday's performance, but the Manchester City player said the squad will "make sure" they rediscover their best form in time for Monday's sold-out Group A match against Norway at Brighton's Amex Stadium.
"She [Wiegman] was obviously pleased with the result, it's important we got the win," said the 21-year-old.
"She said there's a lot of things we need to improve on, and we're aware of that. As players we take responsibility for that and we'll make sure we put it right for Monday.
"There's still so much more to come from this team."
As hosts, England are one of the favourites to win the Euros, but Hemp believes it is a "wide-open tournament" as the Lionesses search for their first triumph at a major finals.
"There are so many favourites, or teams tipped to win," added Hemp, who earned her 23rd cap in the win over Austria.
"It's exciting to see, and that's important for the women's game to grow."