'I love the Bundesliga!' - England star Ellen White explains goal celebration

England striker Ellen White has explained the inspiration behind her goal celebration, which was on show again on Sunday as she netted in the Lionesses' Women's World Cup opener - a 2-1 win over Scotland.

After Nikita Parris scored from the penalty spot early on, White used the celebration, in which she forms glasses around her eyes with her fingers, when her header looped over goalkeeper Lee Alexander - only for the offside flag to deny her the goal.

But she didn't have to wait long to get on the scoresheet in France. Just before half-time, the ball fell kindly for her to finish with composure, and the striker revealed afterwards that the reason behind the gesture comes from her favourite German football team.

"I like watching the Bundesliga. I support Cologne and striker Anthony Modeste, that’s his celebration," White explained.

"My husband was like, why don’t you do that? But I’ve started something I can’t really stop now!"

White's affiliation with the club goes beyond just being a big fan, however, with her a regular visitor to the German city.

She was a visitor to the club last month too, joining them at training to celebrate with Modeste after Cologne won promotion from 2. Bundesliga to the German top tier, with the Frenchman netting six goals in 10 games after rejoining from Chinese outfit Tianjin Tianhai.

"We just love German football and went over there on a break and loved the atmosphere and the football," the 30-year-old added.

The goal continued White's scoring spree against the Scots, with her having netted on each of her last three appearances against England's rivals.

"You get so much adrenalin playing against your rivals of another nation, but I just feel really honoured to be in my third World Cup and I feel in a really good place at the moment," she said.

"There’s been so much hype and expectation about this game and we’re really delighted to get the 90 minutes under our belt and come out with three points."

After watching Australia suffer a shock defeat in their opener with Italy, while Germany and Spain struggled in their first wins, England will be delighted to have not only started with a victory, but to have played well for the most part of it too.

"It was a tough game for us but the main thing is we’re in this tournament now and we’ve got the three points and we look forward to facing Argentina," White added.

"It was really hot and humid, but we’re really pleased with our first-half performance.

"We're a little bit disappointed with our second half, but that’s what happens in tournament football, you have those rollercoasters and we need to change that moving forward - but we can’t peak too early.

"We’ll keep growing, keep developing, keep learning, and look forward to Argentina.​"

England face the South American nation, who play their opening fixture against Japan on Monday, in their second group game on Friday in Le Havre.