Olympic Football Tournament 2020 – Women – News – Dykes, Memories and a Vision for the Future

• Ifioma Dyke was part of Britain’s first team at the Olympics
• The Scotland center-back and Kim Little were the only two non-England in the team
• Dyke talks about 2012 and Scottish women who can shine in Tokyo

Ifioma Dyke was born in the United States, earned a scholarship to attend Florida International University, played in Chicago and Boston and is now a coach in Miami. Yet in 2004, called to join the world’s most successful women’s national team, Dyke turned down calls from the United States.

To understand the inexplicable, it is enough to listen to Dyke with his strong Scottish accent. Despite his connections with the United States and Nigerian parents, Dyke reveals that he is Scottish at his fingertips. Her attachment to a country where she had grown up at the age of three overshadowed her decision to accept her American successes.

“I don’t regret even the slightest”, assures Dyke FIFA.com. “I still remember the preparations before the internship with the American team. I felt the privilege and opportunities it presented to me, but I was not particularly impatient. I was very surprised why and how I realized that me too. Born in the United States, I didn’t feel like an American. I didn’t feel anything special inside me, unlike every game in Scotland. People drove me crazy for the time and It took two or three days. I must dare to tell my coach that I was not going to camp. But, frankly, I never regretted that decision. C This is a decision that I have done it with my heart for the right reasons. “

London call

Selected more than 120 times with Scotland, she became the first black woman to wear a Scottish armband and helped her team advance to a major tournament for the first time. Another achievement, in 2012: Only two non-English players are called up to Great Britain’s first women’s Olympic team. Diak is one of them and, although his tournament ended early, with a brutal ligament injury in Game 2, he has memories of it.

“I remember myself feeling pity because these kinds of injuries could end a career,” she says. “But one day I was watching the Paralympic Games on TV when I was stuck in bed. I saw athletes with no arms or legs in action. It inspired me and it helped me put things in perspective. Finally In, this injury increased my length. Career because I learned to differentiate and condition my body and I played until the age of 37. “

When Hope Powell called Dyke to announce his selection, he saw a dream come true. “I loved watching the Olympics, although I preferred to focus on athletics. So knowing that I was going to participate in the event was absolutely fantastic. Even today, I have a hard time. To say that For I was an ‘Olympian’. Because I think of the athletes who play in a different stratosphere, “he says, who helped Britain’s first women’s team play and win their first match at the Millennium Stadium in front of 30,000 people helped. “Total Euphoria! I will do it again immediately despite being seriously injured during the tournament.”

No words but karma

In addition to the injury, Dyke came under criticism from English newspapers, as he and his partner Scottishwoman Kim Little refused to sing the song ‘God Save the Queen’, the national anthem of England and Great Britain, which contains offensive words towards the Scots . “We talked about it with Kim and there was no way out,” the former center-back said. “But none of the players or staff members sang to us. It was not in the team despite it being a little non-England player, although I was lucky to have Kelly Smith, Alex Scott and Karen Carney as club mates Was adjusted. ” Mostly done on the pitch. We had to adapt to the way England played. But the fact that Kim and I started to prove that we had adapted well. “

Team gb The two matches in which Deke played did not achieve any of those goals. For his part, Little played all meetings in London 2012 and, at 30, may be on Hedge Reese’s squad for Tokyo 2020. It remains to be seen how many Scottish women will be part of the Olympic Games in Japan at this time.

Apart from Dyke, other than Little, whom he still considers necessary, the two players have all the qualities to integrate Great Britain’s selection. “Erin Cuthbert will be at the top level, neck and neck with the best players, at least for the next ten years. She is young, but has a lot of experience, a great attitude and can move forward in multiple roles without problems. Is, “believes the former Scottish international. “Caroline Wear should also be called. I really enjoyed watching her improve because she has always had talent. Some players are technically up, and she’s improved in terms of physical condition.” And Rachel Corsi.

At his best, Dyke would undoubtedly have gone on the journey. But this time, the Olympian will support the team from their home in Miami as the second British team in history will try to win the first medal on Japanese soil.