England had just crushed Sweden 4-0 to reach the Euro 2022 final, but that scoreline could have been very different if goalkeeper Sarina Wiegman hadn’t contributed some towering defiant saves. Although Earps and her male counterpart at Manchester United do not train together, they support each other and remain in regular contact. “David just sent me congratulations,” she said, responding to suggestions that her first save, which she made with an outstretched left foot to deny Sofia Jakomsson in the first 30 seconds, looked straight out of De Gea’s playbook. “I will make that comparison, there is no problem,” said the 29-year-old, who is not afraid to pick the Spanish goalkeeper’s brains. “David and I talk a little bit. We text back and forth about results and clean sheets and stuff. At Manchester United he really supports the women’s game. it’s always nice to have his support.” Earps has come a long way in the 10 years since she juggled low-paid, part-time jobs to make the gas money she needed to drive to training at Doncaster Belles. A decade ago, the Nottingham-born goalkeeper never thought she would make a living from football and, planning a career in commerce, completed a degree in information management and business studies at Loughborough University. Although football remains very much her first love, business fascinates her and during the lockdown she convinced United to allow her to embark on a special course in entrepreneurship. He also traveled with the German, having acquired a few when he was back-up goalkeeper at Wolfsburg in the 2018-2019 season. “I eat, sleep, dream and breathe football,” he said. “But I’m also fascinated by business.” During the first lockdown, Earps particularly – and typically – enjoyed reading Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. However, at that stage he seemed resigned to never progressing beyond understudy status in the international goalkeeping hierarchy. Mary Earps celebrates England’s third goal against Sweden with Leah Williamson – she made a number of outstanding saves during the match. Photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images After making her international debut under Mark Sampson in 2017, she traveled to the 2019 World Cup in France as Phil Neville’s third-choice goalkeeper and arguably moved up the ranks under Wiegman only because of the serious injury that forced Manchester City’s Ellie Roebuck to missed the first half of last season. Once Roebuck recovered, Wiegman put a spinning spell through her, Aston Villa’s Hannah Hampton and Earps on goal. When the United goalkeeper was confirmed as first choice for Euro 2022, some critics questioned the England manager’s judgement. Earps have confused them by keeping four clean sheets in five tournament games. Her all-round excellence was epitomized by the moment in the semi-final when Stina Blackstenius’ shot appeared on an unstoppable trajectory into the far top corner only for Earps to perform acrobatic miracles and tip it over. It was at that point that it became clear how far Earps has come from France 2019, when her dominant contribution to the England team was a penchant for morale-boosting practical jokes. Mary Earps kept four clean sheets in her five games at Euro 2022 thanks to saves, including a brace against Sweden. Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images At the time she didn’t feel “entitled to anything” and when Neville then abandoned her completely, she had no public complaint. “I was thinking a lot that, ‘Yeah, this is probably the end of the international road for me,’” Earps said. “I never expected anything more.” Wiegman, however, recognized the quality and steady improvement of a goalkeeper who, despite spending that season at Wolfsburg mostly on the bench, learned a lot playing against strikers of the caliber of Danish forward Pernille Harder in training. It also helped that after years of frequent transfers – with spells at Birmingham, Bristol City and Reading following her spell at Doncaster – United offered her the stability of a long-term contract. Even so, on Tuesday it was as if the player, who takes her job so seriously that she has a special monitor to measure the quality of her sleep, couldn’t believe the scale of her recent transformation. “I really enjoy playing at this level,” he said. “It’s such a fantastic feeling. I am so proud to be a part of this England team. “My teammates have said some really nice things – some amazing things – about me and it just means the world. I want to be the best I can be for them.” Subscribe to Moving the Goalposts, our women’s soccer newsletter. Not that she’s ever been one to skip homework. The woman who, during this stint at Doncaster Belles, worked part-time in a cinema, now spends countless hours studying the small screen in her living room. “I watch as much televised football as I can,” Earps said. “I watch a lot of Premier League games, but I also study goalkeepers from all over the world. It is very important as a goalkeeper to develop your own style because not everything works. You might see something on TV, but it might not work for you. everyone is built differently, we all have different strengths.” It is England’s good fortune that Wiegman spotted an exceptional goalkeeping talent that other managers could not fully identify.
