How home delivery almost saw Esme Morgan miss England 2023 World Cup selection call

• Man City star is in Wiegman's plans
• Missed Euros triumph through injury
• Inspired by Treble triumph at the Etihad

WHAT HAPPENED? The Manchester City defender was readying herself for a post-season break when Lionesses’ head coach Sarina Wiegman began to ring around delivering good news to those who had made her squad for a global gathering in Australia and New Zealand. Morgan was in danger at one stage of delivering an untimely snub to her national team coach, with the 22-year-old – who missed a triumphant European Championship campaign in 2022 due to a broken leg - relieved to see Wiegman call back after missing her initial call.

WHAT THEY SAID: Morgan has told Sky Sports of learning that she was in England’s World Cup squad: “Well I actually missed the first call. I was just about to go on holiday and had a last-minute Zara delivery coming. So I went to the door to collect it, came back, checked my phone and had a missed call from Sarina and Arjen [Veurink - England Women assistant coach]. I was like, 'Noooooo!' but minutes later they called again, thank goodness, and I was like, 'Sorry I missed you, I was getting my delivery!'”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Morgan enjoyed a productive 2022-23 campaign with City’s women’s team and was also in attendance as the men completed a historic Treble with a Champions League final win over Inter in Istanbul. The lifelong Blues fan added on that experience, which was taken in alongside club colleague Steph Houghton as well as former City stars Shaun Wright-Phillips and Nedum Onuoha: “We went bonkers. It took my voice a good four or five days to recover, I was croaky for quite a while but it was amazing. When I saw them actually lift the trophy I had tears in my eyes. I've been supporting City my whole life and it's been the club's biggest goal for many years. I saw the emotion of the players and that's what set me off. As a player, when you achieve something like that and you've put so much work into it, the culmination of lifting that trophy must put so much emotion through you.”

IN TWO PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Morgan – who was on the bench for the 2023 Finalissima clash between England and Brazil - is now in a position to chase down more major honours of her own, with the Lionesses due to open their bid for World Cup glory against Haiti on July 22.