Jade Moore is back in Minsk - the scene of her greatest triumph to date.
The Birmingham City midfielder is part of the England Women’s squad currently preparing for Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Belarus.
A win would nudge the Three Lions ever closer to Canada 2015, but it will be nowhere near as significant as the 23-year-old’s last visit to this part of the world.
Belarus v England
FIFA Women's World Cup 2015
Group 6 qualifier
3pm BST, Saturday 14 June 2014
Traktor Stadium, Minsk
In 2009, Moore was a member of Mo Marley’s U19 squad that won the UEFA European Championship – England’s maiden success in the competition.
And it is with great fondness that the Worksop native looks back on those memorable two weeks.
Moore said: “It was a pretty special tournament for us.
“We only conceded one goal in qualifying and went unbeaten throughout the whole campaign and that was a big achievement for us.
“We didn’t have an easy run of games but we made it seem that way the way we performed.
“If you ask every single one of us - even the people on the bench - what the highlight of their career is it would be that. I still write it down now when people ask me; it’s still winning the European Championship with the U19s.”
As Moore alluded to, the U19s didn’t lose a match in qualifying or in the finals in 2009, only conceding once during the entire campaign.
They defeated Sweden (3-0) and Iceland (4-0) either side of a 0-0 draw with Norway to finish top of the group.
Switzerland were put to the sword in the semi-final before Toni Duggan and Jordan Nobbs scored the goals against the Swedes that sealed the Euro crown.
Seven of that group have gone on to represent their country at senior level, including Moore, and she puts their success down to the family environment the players created in that U19 squad.
Moore added: “We had a really close-knit group. We had been together from U15s and U17s through to the U19s so we had been together for a few years. And a lot of us trained at Loughborough so we were living together and that helped with the tightness and the cohesion.
“With that U19 group we were away every month so you had to get to know each other. You end up becoming like sisters and on the pitch it showed because you wanted to work for each other.
“It was like a family.
“When you’ve got that bond it does make a massive difference on the pitch. We would have died for each other.”
Moore also recognises the role her Head Coach had to play in the historic victory.
Marley first led the U19 age group to a Euro final in 2007, where they lost to Germany, and has gone on to reach four finals in the last seven seasons – with yet another finals campaign to come next month.
Moore said: “Mo had a massive input because we wanted to win for her, too. She had a big role to play in making that squad unique.
“We maybe could have had a stronger starting eleven for certain games in terms of personnel but every player was selected to do a certain job.
“We had a lot of fluidity in the team because we could all play in a number of positions.
“I’ve never really had that in any team I’ve been a part of since so Mo deserves enormous credit for that.”
Moore now has a brand new mission in Minsk – helping England get three more World Cup qualifying points.
Mark Sampson’s side have won all of their opening six games and require seven points from their last four qualifiers to secure their place at next summer’s showpiece.
And Moore, who made her first competitive start last time out against Ukraine, is in confident mood.
She said: “It should be seven from seven.
“If we go out with the same attitude and same performance as we have done for the last six games that shouldn’t be a problem.”
