HAVING reached the knock-out stages of the last two major tournaments, England are ready to mount a serious challenge for this year's FIFA Women's World Cup.
The tournament gets under way in Germany tomorrow, with England playing their first group match against Mexico on Monday evening in Wolfsburg.
The Three Lionesses have made giant leaps over the last few years, turning themselves into one of the major forces in the women's game after impressive performances at the last two major tournaments.
Two years ago, Hope Powell's team surprised many by turning in a remarkable performance to reach the final of the European Championships, only to be beaten by favourites Germany at the final hurdle.
Two years prior to that, they reached the quarter-finals of the 2007 World Cup but were knocked out by the USA, ranked number one in the world, their best performance since the competition was formed in 1991.
Now though, there is a sense of optimism surrounding England having recently recorded friendly wins against the USA and Sweden, also ranked in the top five in the world.
An unbeaten qualifying campaign, in which the Lionesses dropped just two points and conceded only two goals in eight matches, will give the squad huge belief that they can reach their second successive major final.
The squad arrived in Germany last Sunday and have been putting the final preparations together ahead of Monday's opening game.
Four days later, the squad travel to Dresden to face New Zealand, before completing their group matches against arguably their toughest competitors for qualification to the knock-out stages, Japan, on July 5 in Augsburg.
In the run-up to this year's tournament, the England camp have been wary of talking up their chances, but privately the hope is the team will at least make the semis.
Powell believes her 21-women squad is the strongest she's ever had, but refuses to talk beyond the group stages and insists her side's focus must be 100 per cent on winning their group.
She said: "There's more depth than we've ever had, which is a fantastic position to be in.
"In my experience it's a first to have that luxury. The girls have worked hard to be selected and I'm very happy with the 21 I have chosen.
"We have to be realistic in our aims, we have to deal with the group first and if you don't do that you're going nowhere.
"Let's focus on that and see how we do. If we get out of the group it will depend on the draw, you need luck and players to stay fit.
"Anything can happen in major tournaments, you can't predict what's going to happen so let's focus on the group first."
Hosts Germany are hot favourites to lift their third World Cup, closely followed by the USA and Brazil, but after their success at recent tournaments, England, ranked tenth in the world, are now regarded as genuine challengers to the top three forces in the women's game.
Powell has had injury concerns over key players Faye White and Fara Williams, but the pair have trained with the squad this week, and the England coach hopes to have them available for Monday's opener.
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