England forward Lauren Hemp believes fans are yet to see her best football ahead of the Lionesses' Euro 2022 quarter-final against Spain, as she warned facing La Roja represented a "massive challenge".
Hosts England breezed through the group stages at the Women's Euros, recording the biggest ever win at a European Championship when hammering eight goals past Norway before rounding off Group A with a 5-0 win over Northern Ireland.
In doing so, Sarina Wiegman's team became the first side since Germany (in 2001, 2005 and 2009) to win all three of their group games at back-to-back European Championships, having done likewise in 2017.
The Lionesses have now scored an astonishing 98 goals in just 17 games under Wiegman, remaining unbeaten throughout and only conceding three times.
Hemp started all three of England's group games, scoring in the resounding win over Norway, but is targeting improvements on an individual level as the knockout stages get underway.
"I think it takes time, it's my first major tournament with England, and in front of so many fans it is nerve-wrecking, I'm not going to lie," Hemp said in a news conference on Monday.
"I think being consistent is something I'm striving towards and personally I don't think you've seen the best yet, there's still time, and obviously it's going to take a while and I'm still so young.
"I'm still learning every day and taking it all in my stride really. I've got a great group of players around me who are supporting me and doing amazing.
"It's important that we carry on this run and everyone's taking so much confidence from the recent games, it's important that we carry that on in the quarter-finals."
Wednesday's opponents Spain began the tournament as one of the favourites but finished second in Group B after losing Ballon d'Or-winning winger Alexia Putellas to injury before their opening game.
While Hemp is looking forward to facing Spain at Brighton and Hove Albion's AMEX Stadium, she admits La Roja, ranked seventh in the world by FIFA, will provide a stern test.
"I think the overriding feeling is excitement, we've played them before in the Arnold Clark Cup [a 0-0 draw in February] and that was a massive learning curve for us," she added.
"We've done all the preparation needed and it's important that we stay on track, we've got a lot of confidence from the previous games obviously, [keeping] clean sheets, scoring lots of goals, and we're in a good place as a group, it's really exciting.
"We've got a lot of respect for the teams we have played and also the team we're going to come up against, but it's going to be a massive challenge, we know that.
"Coming into the quarter-finals is never going to be easy, it's two top sides coming up against each other so we're just looking forward to it."
Meanwhile, England's preparations for their last-eight clash have been disrupted by Wiegman testing positive for COVID-19, but Hemp played down the importance of her absence from training.
"It's been different, obviously Covid is still around and it's a frustrating thing, it's unfortunate that she's got it," Hemp said.
"But we've trained for so long for these scenarios, she's still involved in the sessions remotely, but we've still got a fantastic technical staff and it doesn't feel that different, to be honest.
"She's still there and still supporting us, whether that's remotely or in person."
Brazil legend Marta to retire from international football
Brazil star Marta has announced she will retire from international football at the end of 2024.
The 38-year-old is the all-time highest scorer for Brazil, netting 116 goals in 175 matches for the national team.
She is also the top-scorer in the Women’s World Cup with 17 goals, finishing as a runner-up in 2007 when Brazil lost in the final to Germany.
The forward has won three Copa America Femenina titles and was part of the Brazil team that won silver medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
Marta could make her sixth appearance for Brazil at this year's Games if she is selected in the squad at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
"If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because, regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team," Marta told CNN in an interview on Thursday.
"There will be no more Marta from 2025 in the national team as an athlete.
"I am very calm about this because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes."
Al Hilal 3-1 Al Fateh: Neves on target as Saudi giants close in on title
Al Hilal moved 12 points clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr at the top of the Saudi Pro League as Ruben Neves scored in a 3-1 win over Al Fateh on Friday.
Former Wolves star Neves slotted in from the penalty spot in the 74th minute, as Al Hilal completed a rapid comeback.
Having fallen behind to Lucas Zelarayan's 57th-minute opener, Al Hilal responded swiftly through Micheal before Salem Al Najdi fouled Mohammed Al Qahtani in the penalty area.
Ex-Barcelona winger Cristian Trello and Al Fateh coach Slaven Bilic were booked for their complaints, with Neves making no mistake, paving the way for Ali Al Bulayhi to seal victory in the 15th minute of an extended period of stoppage time.
Data Debrief
Al Hilal have now won 21 games on the spin in the league. They have scored 86 goals across their 28 matches this season, winning 26 in total.
They had 19 shots on Friday, accumulating 2.34 xG to Al Fateh's 0.25, with pass-master Neves creating three chances to go along with his goal.
RFEF elects Rocha as new president
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has confirmed Pedro Rocha as its new president.
Rocha has been elected as Luis Rubiales' replacement, despite being under investigation for corruption.
He had been serving as interim president since Rubiales resigned in September over the scandal caused when he kissed player Jenni Hermoso following Spain's Women's World Cup triumph in August.
In a statement released on Friday, the RFEF said: "Pedro Rocha has today been proclaimed the new president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), after having received the support of the majority of the assembly members of this institution that governs Spanish football.
"The process followed the procedure agreed by the Electoral Commission, which met this morning, and the timetable that was established for these elections."
Rocha has been under investigation since earlier in April, after the RFEF's headquarters was raided by police last month. The Spanish government announced on Thursday that it would be stepping in to oversee the running of the organisation.
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