Jess Park admits it has been an “incredible” last few weeks having seized the opportunity she was waiting for.
With Jill Roord sidelined after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in January, Park, on loan at Everton last term, came into the Manchester City midfield for her first Women’s Super League start this season when champions Chelsea visited the Joie Stadium in February.
The 22-year-old promptly set up the early Khadija Shaw finish that proved the only goal in that contest and has since scored three times and provided three assists across four further WSL victories for title-chasing City last month, including a 3-1 Etihad Stadium triumph over Manchester United in which she notched a brace and teed up Shaw once again.
Park, the Barclays Player of the Month for March, also earlier this month returned to the England starting line-up for the first time in more than a year.
“It’s been incredible,” she told the PA news agency.
“It’s kind of hard to put it into words and I still think I’m reflecting on it but trying to look forward as well. We’re in an important position so I need to keep looking at the next game, but I am very happy with how it’s gone.
“I’ve been working really hard since being back from Everton (for whom she registered five goals and five assists in 22 appearances). I feel like I got a lot of confidence from last season and I’ve just been waiting for that moment to make an impact and it came and I’ve been able to keep that going.”
Park, whose City debut came aged 16 back in 2017, added: “Last year to start in games against every team, it was experience I needed.
“I’d trained really hard for however many years with City and I just needed that exposure to the playing time, and I think that really helped me coming back this season, knowing that when I get that opportunity I’m ready to play.
“I always had that drive to play and you think ‘is it going to come’, but I think I’m a patient person and I’ll work hard no matter what.
“We (Park and City boss Gareth Taylor) have a lot of conversations, what I can work on, get better at, and putting the little pieces together, and that gave me a lot of trust in him, and it felt like he trusted me.
“So I always felt like it would come at some point, I just needed to keep being patient and doing the things he’s telling me to.”
Brough-born Park – who says her current central role “feels a lot more natural” having played it growing up before being utilised on the wing – was a City fan as a child.
And she described the recent derby as an “incredible moment” adding: “I’d never played at the Etihad before so I was really looking forward to it, really excited and nervous – but as soon as the whistle went, I knew what I was doing and we knew as a team.
“We all played fantastic. I’d been working so hard at the end product bit and it just kind of all came together in that game.”
Of her watching parents, she said: “They were really proud, they always believe in me and were just happy I got the moment to show other people what they’ve seen in me the whole time.”
Park has emerged as a key player in a City side who have won each of their last 12 WSL games and are behind leaders Chelsea on goal difference ahead of Sunday’s home clash with West Ham, one of four remaining games.
“As a team we’re just all really focused on what we want to do,” Park said.
“We have the goal and all we can do is control what we can and we’ll work hard at that every game, step by step. As long as we keep doing what we do well, anything could happen.”
Rangnick turns down Bayern to stay in Austria job
Ralf Rangnick has confirmed he will remain in charge of Austria's national team beyond Euro 2024, having turned down Bayern Munich's interest.
Rangnick confirmed last week that Bayern had been in touch regarding the possibility of him taking over ahead of next season.
Bayern are aiming to fill an impending void, with current coach Thomas Tuchel set to leave the club at the end of the campaign.
But Rangnick has now confirmed he will be staying put, though he insisted he did not "reject" Bayern.
"I am national team coach of Austria with all my heart," he said in a statement released by the Austrian Football Association (OFB).
"This task brings me a lot of joy and I am determined to continue down the road we have started.
"I want to clearly stress that this is not a rejection of Bayern Munich but rather a decision for my team and our common goals."
"We are fully focused on the Euro. We will do everything we can to go far."
There have been calls from some Bayern fans for Tuchel to stay in charge, with some going as far as to sign a petition.
Bayern wanted to appoint Xabi Alonso as Tuchel's successor, but the former midfielder has elected to stay with Bayer Leverkusen.
While Leverkusen stormed to the Bundesliga title to end Bayern's 11-year dominance of the competition, Tuchel's team can still salvage silverware in the form of the Champions League.
Bayern head into the second leg of their semi-final tie with Real Madrid on the back of a 2-2 draw in Munich in Tuesday's first leg.
Dortmund boss Terzic not surprised by Sancho's quality
Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic said he was not surprised by Jadon Sancho's quality after the on-loan forward helped the German side to a 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the first-leg tie of their Champions League semi-final.
Sancho joined Manchester United from Dortmund for 85 million euros ($91.11 million) in August 2021 but failed to hold down a regular spot and returned to Germany after becoming embroiled in a row with manager Erik ten Hag.
After impressing on the right wing against PSG, Terzic said he always sees Sancho's quality in training.
"It's maybe not so easy to bring it onto the field, especially when you haven't had rhythm for a while," he told reporters.
"We know his quality, and we saw it again today. We knew we needed a performance like that from Jadon."
Dortmund bagged the winner in the 36th minute through Niclas Fullkrug to take a slim advantage going into Tuesday's return leg in Paris.
Despite winning the first leg, Terzic knows that the tie is still all to play for in the second leg.
"We showed a very good game, a narrow win but a deserved one. It was a great teamwork performance that got us there. We wanted that small advantage. We know next week will most likely be tougher than today," he said in a press conference.
"This is just half-time and next week will be a different story. It won't be easy to deal with their power play in front of a home crowd. We felt it today from the 45th to the 60th minute.
"We felt their quality. We showed our best game against PSG, but next week they will have a euphoric backing of their fans, and they will want to turn the tie around.
It is a victory that, coupled with Bayern Munich’s draw with Real Madrid on Tuesday, secures Germany a fifth automatic Champions League spot next season.
"We wanted to qualify for the Champions League through the Bundesliga and not this way. But the fact that it will be enough to qualify as fifth is also partly down to our success, our contribution," Terzic added.
"Our minimum goal was to qualify for the Champions League. Now it [added spot] does not improve our Bundesliga season, but it does offer a softer landing."
Luis Enrique hoping for home comforts in semi-final second leg
Luis Enrique is hoping Paris Saint-Germain's home support proves the difference in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Borussia Dortmund.
PSG must try to overturn a 1-0 deficit when BVB visit the Parc des Princes next week.
Dortmund's Niclas Fullkrug fired in a first-half goal to seal victory over visitors PSG, who had more possession throughout Wednesday's game but could not take their chances at Signal Iduna Park.
While PSG beat Barcelona in the quarters and Real Sociedad in the last 16, playing the second leg away both times, Luis Enrique knows their home fans could be crucial if they are to reach the final at Wembley on June 1.
"We saw an even match with two teams that play good football when they have the ball," Luis Enrique told reporters.
"We both created many scoring chances. This time our opponents scored and we didn't. The result reflects how close the game was.
"In the last two rounds, they had the home game as their second game, whereas it was the other way round for us. Now it's a different and new scenario, we'll have the crowd on our side in the second leg.
"I would have liked to create the chances we have created, but you have to be effective to score. We'll see what version we show in Paris."
Despite creating more chances after the break, PSG lost without scoring for the first time across all competitions this season.
"We missed our chances in the second half," PSG defender Achraf Hakimi told Canal+.
"We knew what they were going to do, with long through balls. We were very focused, the coach repeated it all week."
PSG have progressed from two of their previous four Champions League knockout ties when losing the first leg, with the first of those coming against Dortmund in the last 16 in 2019-20.
"We've come back from 1-0 down before," added PSG captain Marquinhos.
"We've shown that we can do it, especially at home, with the energy of our supporters, it's going to be a different scenario. We know we can do a lot better. We just need to take our chances and be more decisive.
"We conceded a goal that we shouldn't have conceded, and we've been talking all week about these deep passes from this Borussia team. It's the details that make all the difference, and we're going to do better in the next game if we want to go through."
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