It doesn't require much imagination to deduce that the football life of Keira Walsh — the 25-year-old who is critical to England's plans to defeat Spain in a European Championship quarter-final on Wednesday night — has not always been a breeze.
She described on Monday how her father, who's never really been one to go on about how well she's just played, would sit her down in front of Manchester City matches and instruct her to watch how David Silva moves and drops his shoulder.
'He's the only player he ever talks about,' she said a few years back, observing that this parental approach had kept her grounded.