In the Wellington Phoenix Women’s 5-0 victory over Canberra United, there was one player who looked a class above the rest, Milly Clegg.
Clegg was exceptional for Wellington playing out of position as a winger, scoring her first Phoenix goal and being a threat until she was subbed off in the 72nd minute.
Her recent form has proven she is good enough for this level, even though she only just turned 17 in November.
Phoenix coach Natalie Lawrence spoke about how impressed she has been with her young player.
“She is a goal scorer and she is using her position change as an advantage. She is able to go at people one on one and unleash her crazy shots”, she said.
Lawrence made it clear that patience was key for a talented young player like Clegg.
“Milly got on the scoresheet and she’s only 17 years old. If we keep working with her and stay patient, more results like this will happen”, Lawrence said.
For a player as talented as Milly Clegg the next step is playing for her country at senior level.
She has played and scored in underage FIFA tournaments for New Zealand and when asked, Lawrence believed she was up for the senior challenge already.
“Absolutely, 100%. I can’t see a Ferns callup being too far away for Milly”, Lawrence said.
“She is still young though, just 17, but she should get opportunities with the Football Ferns to learn from those players.”
When Clegg was asked about the potential of playing for the Football Ferns, she believed she was ready.
“That would be a dream come true. I just have to keep working hard at training and put in good performances and see what happens”, Clegg said.
She has been a prolific goal scorer throughout her short career and she talked about her hunger to score goals.
“I was very excited to score my first goal for the Phoenix today. But I was also disappointed that I hadn’t scored sooner,” she said.
Whether or not she gets picked for the World Cup this year, the Football Ferns and Phoenix have an exciting player hopefully for years to come.
Feature Image Credit: Photomac
Enjoy this content? Support The Football Sack
Due in part to COVID and lack of current sponsorship we are at risk of not having the funds to continue running The Football Sack. If you enjoy our content and support our work in training talented young writers, please support us with a donation. If every reader contributed just $3, our funding would be covered for over ten years.
| DONATE |
