Toni Duggan: England

England: Toni Duggan

It’s long been believed that English footballers don’t travel well. They prefer to stay in “Old Blighty,” where it’s comfortable and not so foreign and mum has the kettle on. But then there’s 27-year-old Liverpool native Toni Duggan, who’s just fired Barcelona to its first-ever Women’s Champions League final with five goals in the knockout rounds.

Duggan made a name for herself in England with Everton and Manchester City, but she’s been on the books in Catalonia since July of 2017, and she was a part of the Barca-Atletico match that was attended by over 60,000 at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Duggan believes that her time in Barcelona has improved her game mentally, tactically and technically, whereas “In England,” she says, “you might have a possession game of six v six and it’s like headless chickens, people running around everywhere just trying to keep the ball and be strong in tackles.”

With Duggan in the side, England’s less of a headless chicken and more of a cosmopolitan, eight-limbed octopus.