When Spanish media recently approached Hannah Hampton for a post-match interview during these Euros, they were stunned by the England goalkeeper’s fluent response – in Spanish.
But her flair for languages (she also learned sign language to communicate with her deaf cousin, Ethan) is just one of the many hidden layers beneath England’s No 1.
At a young age, Hampton was diagnosed with strabismus – a depth perception condition caused by one eye turning differently than the other. By the age of three, she had already undergone three operations in an attempt to correct the issue. None proved successful, and doctors advised her to avoid playing sports altogether.