Jess Fishlock just wants to enjoy herself. If you are cynical enough, this is a diversionary tactic four days before Wales’ Euro 2025 qualifying play-off final against the Republic of Ireland. Everything could be hanging heavy on the Seattle Reign midfielder’s shoulders.
There is the weight of a nation attempting to qualify for its first major tournament and the adjoining fact that, for much of Wales Women’s recent history, the expectations exist in the shape of Fishlock. She is the nation’s record caps holder (156) and goalscorer (46), a two-time Champions League winner and the NWSL’s most valuable player in 2021.
There is the weight of being a 37-year-old woman in football, with society’s hourglass looming overhead.
Fishlock is trying to be present.
“Because how can you enjoy something if you’re constantly thinking about something else?” she asks The Athletic. “Winning international games is not easy. Winning club games is not easy. Your career is so short. It’s only a split second of your life. You have to enjoy those moments.”
An impulse arises when speaking to Fishlock and other elite players to do so exclusively in the past or future tenses, about what they have done and what they are going to do. Rarely does the conversation occur in the present…
