The host nation of the European Women’s Championship said on Tuesday that England’s reserve goalkeeper Hannah Hampton had left the team’s camp after testing positive for Covid-19.
Hampton, who debuted in England earlier this year, has yet to appear in the European Championships, as the Lionesses qualified for the knockout stages as the winner of Group A.
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“Hannah Hampton has tested positive for Covid-19,” England said in a statement. “She will be monitored regularly with a view to returning to the team as soon as possible.”
The 21-year-old is the second England player to contract the virus, after defender Lotte Woben Mooy hit back with the virus last week.
Coach Sarina Wegman missed England’s win over Northern Ireland on Friday after testing positive for the virus.
England will face Spain in the quarter-finals on Wednesday at the AMEX Stadium in Brighton.
Meanwhile, Wegmann hopes to return to the touchline to face Spain on Wednesday.
She was forced to relay information over a phone line during the 5-0 Northern Ireland hit, but she was on the training ground, albeit from a safe distance.
“I’m very optimistic. But we’ll see what happens. And we know if I can’t be there. I’ll be there another way,” Wegman said at a virtual news conference on Tuesday.
“In the last match, we had a streak. So I was in contact with the technical staff all the time during the match, so we keep in touch all the time.
“If necessary, that’s what we’ll do tomorrow again.”
Wegman said the threat of positive COVID-19 tests is always there but takes comfort in that, saying extra precautions have been taken.
“We’re really aware. We’re very careful. It’s very invisible. But we try to stay in our bubble and do the right things, hopefully keep everyone fit and when something is positive we have to be creative and keep going with whoever we have,” Wegman said.
Spain started the tournament as favourites, but hosts England have now taken that role after scoring 14 unanswered goals in the group stage, including an 8-0 win over Norway.
Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putillas, who was disqualified from the tournament due to an ACL injury, is also absent from experienced striker Jennifer Hermoso, but Wigman knows they are still a major hurdle in the possession match.
“Of course they are missing two key players but I still think they have a very good team, and they are very tough on the ball. For sure it will be the top match tomorrow,” she added.
“They will probably have the ball a lot, but I hope we will too. I think we are comfortable with the ball so I am excited about what it will look like tomorrow.”
