Women's football: US striker Abby Wambach wary of England threat at Stadium:MK

US Women’s National Team striker Abby Wambach insists her team-mates cannot afford to underestimate England when the two sides clash Friday’s friendly at Stadium MK.

England pulled off an upset the last time the sides met, beating the two-time World Cup winners 2-1 in a friendly at Leyton Orient’s Brisbane Road in 2011.

It’s going to be a hostile environment for us, which we can expect in the World Cup, so all of these games are massive for us.

And Wambach says four-time Olympic gold medallists USA are wary of the threat posed by England because all of the world’s top nations are capable of beating each other.

"Every game is huge for us," the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year told Sky Sports. “But it’s so important playing in environments like this where football is the No 1 sport and the fans will be out in force.

“It’s going to be a hostile environment for us, which we can expect in the World Cup (in Canada this summer), so all of these games are massive for us.

“Nowadays there are no easy games where we can coast through. England are a very good team and they have proven that on the many occasions we have played them.

“We came to England a few years back before the Olympics and we lost, so on any given day any team can beat another.”

Rankings

Germany’s 3-0 win over England last year saw the European champions replace USA at the top of the FIFA world rankings and emerge as one of the favourites for the World Cup.

But Wambach, who is USA’s all-time leading goalscorer, thinks more than half a dozen teams could be in the mix to win the 2015 World Cup.

“Obviously being one of the best teams in the world over the last decade is an honour but the reality is we haven’t won a World Cup since 1999,” she said.

“That is something we have to continually remind ourselves of because that is a dream of all of ours. In order for USA to get there we have to forget what the rankings are because right now anybody can win the World Cup.

“Come the World Cup in four or five months, the team who is playing the best, the team who is speaking and playing together will be standing on the podium holding the World Cup in the end.

“The top eight teams in the world can all beat each other on any given day so it’s about the intangibles, the playing together and the fighting for each other.

“We don’t step on the field and assume we are going to win any game. We step on the field vowing to fight for each other till the end.”