“It’s like a dream come true”. LCL and Italy star Elena Linari speaks

London City Lionesses’ iconic Italian centre-back Elena Linari talks about playing in that epic Euros semi-final against England’s Lionesses, then moving to the WSL. Plus the differences competing in the top leagues in Spain, France, Italy and now England, and living the dream as a professional footballer.

Now 32, Linari also tells Helen M Jerome about still being a sponge to learn new things, studying for 10 years to become ‘Dr Linari’, and her abiding passion for rugby…

I don’t want to make you sad, but tell me your emotions during the semi-final against the Lionesses, and also playing against a fellow Italian, Alessia Russo.

When we realised that we were in the semi-final, what we said to each other is: okay, we make our dream come true, we make history. But we are not satisfied in just making history.

We wanted to go to the final for sure.

And we knew we could do it.

I think England suffered a lot.

It was a very tough game, and they were very lucky.

But this is part of football. We were very disappointed; we were very frustrated.

We were so mad because we knew that if we’d arrived at the final, maybe we could have the chance to win the Euros. Because really in that moment, you can have something more.

What we missed was managing the last minutes of the game better.

Those mistakes we made, like not managing the ball properly, kicking the ball long, trying to shoot from 20 metres instead of going to the corner, these are little mistakes that maybe England, if it was Italy, wouldn’t do.

We had a lack of experience because we also had young players who were playing for the first time in such a big, international competition.

So I think this lack of experience made the difference in the end.

About the penalty, maybe we can say many things, but then I never complain about a referee decision, because I think you have 90 minutes or more to change everything.

We had chances to score before, so if we scored before, maybe the penalty would have not happened, or if it happened and you have one or two goals more, we would not draw the game.

So many things. That’s why I never complain about a referee’s decision because you have a lot of time to change the history of a game.

That’s my opinion, but I think that the difference was that we were not able to manage them properly, and in the end that made the difference.

But England made a great game because they were able to stay there, to keep going, even though they were struggling.

I think that was their strength over the years.

Maybe we are not the best, maybe they were not, because many played a lot of games before arriving at the Euros, so maybe it was more managing their fatigue than other things.

But they were always there.

They were there.

If they had to punish, they punished.

If they had to defend, they defended.

So I think their manager was so good to give them this kind of mentality.

The best result with the last effort.

When you’re up against these players now, like Alessia Russo (above), Chloe Kelly – not Michelle Agyemang, she’s done her ACL – do they remind you of that match when you’re playing in club games?

Yeah, for sure, because for me it’s the first time I’m playing in the WSL and facing this kind of player and not wearing the Italian jersey.

It’s like a dream come true because I normally see them on TV, playing Champions League.

Or maybe when I was with Roma playing in the Champions League and facing them, but just once, not many times.

Here, you have Man City, Arsenal, Man United, and you can play so many teams and face very great players.

For sure, when I play against them, I remember the Euros, I remember how they played.

But the mistake we sometimes make is to think that the same player with the national team is the same with their club.

It’s not the same.

Like Alessia Russo in the national team has a role; but in Arsenal she has another role.

She maybe moves more with Arsenal, and is more static with the national team or vice versa.

So the mistake is that you think you know the opponent, the player, but in reality you don’t.

That’s also the beauty.

I have to ask you about playing for Italy over the years. In my opinion, seeing you in Euro 2022, the Arnold Clark Cup in 2023 (above), then seeing you in Switzerland playing against Spain (below). The difference is huge.

How would you say Italy progressed to get to the semi-final against England from where you didn’t get out of the group in the Euro 2022? That’s a massive leap.

‘Massive’ is maybe not saying everything because it was a huge change.

But the first and most important one, I think, was in our mentality.

Because mentality can change everything.

You can think you’re the worst, then you’re losing and one month later you play against the same opponent, somebody is telling you are going to be the best and you are close to winning.

That’s what happened against us against Sweden after the World Cup in 2023. We lost 5-1, one month later, we faced them for the group stage, for qualification for the Nations League.

And we almost won the game.

We were almost the same 11. So what the new coach and staff gave us was a positive mentality.

He gave us few ideas in that moment, because he knew that if you give too much, it was going to explode the bomb, because you cannot handle lots of information.

But most important was: you are good, believe that you are good.

They are good, yes. But you are good.

If you think you are good and you have teammates close to you that can help you when you’re struggling, maybe when you’re tired, when you don’t have oxygen because you made a sprint and you need to come back, but you are struggling, believe in your teammates.

So he told us two things that made the difference in the two years of qualification for the Euros.

The difference is more the mentality. Then in between, there is great progress in women’s sport and women’s football in Italy.

Many clubs improved a lot, the league improved a lot, many new players arrived, there were great signings, and the league became more competitive, with not just one team winning, the gap decreased between the first, the second, and also all the others.

When this happened, it helped us also to improve.

What he did also was to call up new players, to bring to the team new emotions, the beauty of wearing the Italian jersey, the soul that you need to have.

Those were the most important ideas and patterns he gave us, then the difference was also our preparation.

We ran a lot, we wanted to handle the fatigue; we knew fatigue was our best friend and we wanted to have fatigue in our preparation, in our pre-season.

Because we knew if we were able to handle the game and intensity, and we were close together to make the effort, we could make the difference.

We knew that maybe individually we were not the best, but collectively everybody was afraid of Italy because we had this kind of unit.

It didn’t matter who was on the pitch in the XI. We were so united together that it didn’t matter.

You could put a bench player on who hadn’t played one minute, and she made the effort because that was the vibe.

This is going to be hard to repeat.

But this is also the goal for us to improve.

You’ve been at a few clubs in different countries, how have your own personal life and career goals changed as you’ve moved to each of these clubs?

Atletico Madrid

I can say that when I moved to Madrid, it was my first experience abroad and it was a bit a shock for me. But I wanted to move out of my comfort zone.

It’s one thing to want this with my mind, it’s another thing to do it.

And I started to experience the bench; not being in the squad.

It was a tough season for me, but it gave me a good experience.

We know everybody wants to play. Nobody wants to stay in the bench, out of the squad.

And this is part of football, but at the same time I was not capable of handling this situation because for me, before going abroad we’re just playing, playing, playing.

I didn’t matter if I was almost injured, I was playing.

I mean, I was in my comfort zone.

So that was a good step for me, especially for me as a person, because I think that first of all, I’m a human being, I’m a person. Then for how I live my life, I’m a professional athlete.

But first of all, I have emotion, I have feelings, so I need to experience it to improve and to be a better one.

Bordeaux

Then I moved to Bordeaux.

Unfortunately, I think that that was not the best “wedding” in my life because the idea of the club was to improve a lot, to make it bigger, to qualify for the Champions League and everything.

Instead, during the season, the owners started to be in the red with the bank, they didn’t have enough money, and they were starting to sell players.

And halfway through the season, in December, I spoke with the manager because I was not playing.

When he wanted me from Madrid, he told me: I want you to play, I want you to be involved in the games, I want you to be there to help us to improve a lot…

And then we didn’t link. There was not the fire, I can say.

In that moment I said to myself: I need to play and maybe I need to take a few steps back, to maybe go abroad if I have the chance again.

Roma

Roma wanted me a lot.

They were pushing to have me even before I signed it for Bordeaux.

But then I decided in January 2021 to go back to Rome.

I loved the project.

I think that was the right way for me to start improving again, to slow down.

Be more in a zone where you can play, you can find again, your emotion, your love for football, because I was really struggling with loving football.

I was too stressed, I think.

Going to Rome for me was pure emotion because since I arrived, we started to win.

Supporters were coming and supporting us a lot.

At home, the stadium was every time full of more and more people.

For three years we really wrote the story of football in Italy, playing every three days with Champions League, and smashing the league.

Every time we played, the feeling of the opponent was: they are everywhere. We were really in the flow. In the flow when you can find each other with your eyes closed.

And if I was not arriving at the ball I had my teammates, and we had the emotions that we were able to play the best football in Italy.

London City Lionesses

I received the call from London City, and for me, it’s a dream come true.

I’m not lying.

I think that coming here at 31 was not an easy decision, but you have the will inside of you to say: I can do something more than just stay in Italy.

And that was the moment when I had butterflies in my stomach.

I had this feeling.

I had the feeling when the sporting director called me and I said: okay, it’s time to go now.

Sorry for Rome, I will miss it, but it’s time to make another experience. As I said before, not for others, but for me personally and me professionally.

When I look at your pattern of where you’ve played, you keep coming back to Italy, basically. So I wonder if that’s the end game for you, either playing or coaching in Florence – or Rome?

I really don’t know at the moment.

I hope that now I can make the two best years here at London City.

This is my goal for the moment, to improve the most I can here.

Here there are great professionals, not only players, but also staff members who can give me a great experience.

I want to be a sponge, even though I’m close to 32.

I can then see what’s going to happen, because it’s the beauty of our sport.

You never know, your contract can finish tomorrow.

So you need to be to take the beauty of it.

You need to take the whole experience.

You have to try to smile more, to be positive and take in everything, because especially when you turn 30 years old, life starts to change.

When you are 20, 23, you still think life is going to last forever, that you will never get older.

Instead, when you turn 30, something is also changing in your mind.

But I think we have great players here that can show us that the age is not making a difference.

Like Asllani, Kumagai are great players even though they are passing 32, 34. They are great.

While you’ve been at London City, what have you noticed in the way it’s changed? Maybe the team has evolved, even in the months you’ve been there.

Yeah, I think when you have such a young team, such young players close to you, for sure you can’t expect to be able to manage all the situations in a fast way.

You need time.

You need time to teach them the level of the league, because for many of them was the first time facing such great teams.

Also for many of us, even though we are experienced, it is the first time.

This league is completely different to all the others, so you need to adapt, you need to be able to manage different situations and also I need to play in a completely different way from what I was doing in Rome, so everybody needs the time.

I think this year is the starting year zero, in my own opinion.

It’s Elena speaking now because we need time.

We have great players, young and experienced ones, and because we have great young players, for sure they need time.

They remind me of when I was 20, you know, so you need time.

I know you love rugby. So I wonder if you’ve ever been tempted to play – and if so, where?

I played rugby when I was at university because I did sports science, and in Italy you also have to practice, so I did rugby.

I love it a lot. My dad played rugby when he was younger, he gave me the addiction of rugby.

When I was younger I followed the famous Italy team – players like Castrogiovanni and Parisse – and it was great for me to see the values that you find in rugby.

This is something we sometimes forget because we think rugby is a very strong sport because we see so many tackles. But in the end it’s one of the most fairly played.

I don’t know where I could play because my university professor told me I was good with my feet.

So I could be like… the last one.

I thought you might be good in the line-out as you’re tall. You could rise up like a Botticelli…

That would be another good option. But I’m also a person who loves to make an effort, so to be in the first line and push for my teammates… I don’t know.

It depends, because also I’m not so fast, so maybe I’m not going to be the runner. But just as in football, I love to manage, control everything. To speak a lot.

So I think being in the back also can be related to my position in a football pitch.

And now the Six Nations is starting.

I’m so excited to see.

I’m so happy for the Italian national rugby team.

They’ve passed a moment where nobody was following them. And it was hard because many players stopped playing rugby.

So they needed to restart with a new generation.

I think also now with some South American players, many are from Argentina, I think.

They are very good.

I see the passion.

When I was in Rome, we were training in the same place.

So many times when I was in the gym, I was by the window, watching them playing, because I’m curious, I want to know what they do.

I think rugby can give a lot of things.

I hope that many children can play rugby.

They don’t have to be afraid.

Because rugby is one of the most complete sports you can do. It gives you a way of approaching another player in a strong tackle, and how to manage going to ground to not hit yourself, not put yourself in danger.

But it’s also very safe, with very fair play.

So that’s why I love it a lot.

Have you watched much women’s rugby because that’s rising up really fast now?

Unfortunately no, because – just as happened for me when I was young with women’s football, I didn’t know that there was women’s rugby.

But now, fortunately, I had the chance in Rome to stay in this big sports centre that is the most important.

There was also athletics and many other sports, so I had the chance to start speaking with the staff of the women’s rugby, and I met their team manager.

I was speaking with him because they were waiting for the Six Nations starting and doing the announcement here in London – I was speaking with him to maybe meet them.

Their captain wanted to swap shirts with me. And I wanted to have their jersey and now I know Silvia Turani (below) is playing here in London, I’m in touch with her and we are trying to find a way to see each other.

I would be happy to go to see their games.

She would be happy to come and visit us from Harlequins when we play.

But I don’t know if it’s happening, because sometimes we play on the same day.

Okay, if you do meet up, I’d like to be there because that would be fantastic.

I will update you about it because that’s my idea.

But for sure my dad is addicted to rugby, and he’s going to see the women play in Parma.

Unfortunately I won’t be available, but immediately when I told my dad I was speaking with the team manager he was so happy, and I think he’s going to be there.

I also believe I should call you ‘Dr. Linari’.

[Linari graduated during Euro 2025 in motor sciences, majoring in football, and using this as the topic for her thesis ‘Football, cognitive abilities and the 1vs1 duel’ – having started this course ten years earlier]

So how did you manage to juggle two things at once?

It was not easy. And if I’m honest, I’m not happy the journey was so long. But when you play sport at such a high level, it’s not easy to combine the pitch and study.

Unfortunately in Italy, when I started in 2015, there was no help from the university.

We only became professional officially in 2022. So seven years without being professional. And I wasn’t able to follow all the classes as live sessions.

So I was happy when I changed from a public university to a private one because it was the only way to follow the lessons online.

That gave me the chance to be more involved with the professor; to know more about what I was studying, and I immediately started to do more exams.

I wanted to finish, and have a piece of paper that if I wanted to go to work would say that I’ve graduated.

In Italy this is very important, but in my opinion you can have 10 of these, but you are still nothing. Because Einstein, I think, had no graduation, but he’s one of the most important scientists in the world.

So for me, it means nothing.

Maybe you’re not addicted to staying at university and have 10 different classes that are history, then Italian, then Latin or whatever.

Maybe you just need one. Maybe school is not for you. But it doesn’t mean you are stupid.

In my opinion, we need to manage this kind of thing better.

So for sure, I was very happy to finish.

Okay. Right.

Then I’m involved with many other things.

I’m doing a FIFA executive program. That’s giving me a lot of knowledge outside football, and I’ve been meeting a lot of great people even though it’s online.

And I’m doing the UEFA B license because my idea for the future is to keep the door open to maybe being a coach.

This is something interesting for me.

Because you’ve been in the game for a while, can you describe the progress, the changes you’ve seen in women’s football in the time you’ve been playing – in professionalisation, in coverage, even crowds?

Yeah, I would say first of all crowds (above at the Emirates and Stamford Bridge).

Now I’m smiling, because when I started there were just parents in the stands; my parents and the parents of my teammates, just people that have to be there because they have a daughter playing or a friend, whatever.

Now it’s more like addiction for the people who want to come.

Also young children want to see famous players; they want to see Kumagai, they want to see Asllani playing, or maybe Bunny Shaw from Man City.

People want to come to see these players, and I think this is something that’s changed completely. Also, especially in England, people are getting involved with the fan zone, where you can stay and have fun with other people.

What we have in Bromley is fantastic from my own perspective, from what I had in Italy.

I think this is the first part, then for sure the broadcasting has changed a lot. Now we have BBC, Sky Sport, that broadcast all our matches.

I think this is very important, because the more people can see us, the better it is for us, for our future.

Also I would love to have these on simple TV, that people don’t have to pay for.

Free to air?

Yeah, free to air, that’s exactly it.

Around the same subject is entertainment. Because football is meant to be entertaining.

People have paid money to come. How important do you think the way that we talk about it in the media, the way it’s shown and the way you play should be entertaining?

For sure.

If you want to make people come, I think the show has to be good to see.

This is the most important because, maybe you don’t have a good pitch to play on.

Then the football you are playing is not good.

I think this is also the first difference from the past to now.

Now here in England, we have very good pitches, very good stadiums.

Also the cameras are well positioned, so you have a good perspective.

I think that this can help us improve, to make the step, to reduce the gap between us and the men.

But I’m not speaking about the first teams, also I’m speaking about others, because I was following the Bromley stadium.

The day after our game with Manchester City, I saw a photo of Bromley playing and the stadium was completely full.

I was like: oof, but it was full also for us against Man City.

I’m like: can it be full every weekend also for us?

I was asking myself why there is still this gap to come to see a football game.

Maybe it’s changing.

Women and men; but in the end it’s football.

Bromley are top of League Two and doing well. They could get promoted this season.

I think this can give us an advantage because people who live close to Bromley maybe want to come and see us because they have this passion coming from the men.

Maybe I’m thinking too much about Italy, because this is what we are missing in Italy.

We’re making the comparison between men and women too many times, and I don’t think this is the right way to make progress. Because it’s the same football, but with different characteristics.

It’s the same with tennis, it’s the same with volleyball, it’s the same with basketball.

You need to accept the differences.

If you think you are going to see the same game, you are wrong.

The same football game, but in a different way.

Apart from your dad, who were the biggest influences on your career and your life? Is it other family members, your friends, partner?

My dad was really the most important one because he was always there for me.

The best thing he did in those years was that he was very demanding for me, in a good way.

He always told me about one or two mistakes I was making in the games.

And just a few times he said: well done.

Sometimes it’s good, sometimes you say: dad, come on, I made just one mistake, be happy for me.

But he gave me this kind of humbleness; remember, you can avoid this kind of mistake, you need to be almost perfect.

It’s good and bad at the same time. But I appreciate it because what I have in my life, what I have now is a great value, that I don’t forget where I’ve come from, all the stuff I did to arrive here.

And your mum?

This is something my family, my mum with all the efforts that she made, to take me to the beach, to take my sister to swim, to split herself between two daughters, and trying to do many things.

That’s not for me, but it was great that they gave me a lot of values.

My mum always told me: if you want to go to training then you have to do your homework. I don’t want the best note from the teacher – in Italy we have from 0 to 10 – I don’t want the 10, but I want at least the 6, because it means you are doing your job.

I don’t want the best, but I want you to be always there.

And if you have a 5, and it maybe seems you are not there, maybe we speak about it.

So it was also about deserving everything and it was good for me.

What are the best things for you now about being a footballer?

Ah, the luck that I have to play football and have the chance to make my passion my work, to do what I want every day.

For me, it’s been lucky.

Not many people can choose what to do every day.

But me, I decided it.

Sport is my life.

That’s why I’m so happy, and so involved in everything, because I’m lucky.

Then maybe I speak with my mum or my dad, and when they were working and they would come back after a full day of work, tired and maybe the next day they don’t want to go back.

There are many people that have to work to survive to live their life, but this is not me.

I decided what I wanted to do.

So this is the best thing that can happen to a person, I think, in life.

Photos: Nina Farooqi/London City Lionesses, Helen M Jerome, Instagram