England's Kelly Smith: 'Why I prefer to watch women's game' Now the most prolific scorer in England women's history with 45 goals from 111 appearances, Smith has always loved the game. I started playing in the playground, jumpers down for goalposts with the boys. My role models growing up were Ryan Giggs and Ian Wright. I tried to emulate them. The skill! Ryan Giggs played in the same position as me, left-footed midfielder. I supported Arsenal and Ian Wright was the goalscorer, full of enthusiasm. He played with a smile on his face. She knows those who have followed Wright into the England men's team. Any times there are functions, they come across and speak to us. Both sides are civil. You don't get a lot of time to speak to them because they are all high-profile players but they are always polite. Women's football still struggles to catch the media eye in England, although ESPN will screen live WSL games and the FA is hopeful of some future highlights deal with the BBC. Globally, the sport enjoys huge popularity. The 2011 World Cup final between the United States and Japan in Frankfurt became the most tweeted event ever, peaking at 7,196 tweets per second. "I was back in Boston, in a bar with some American friends, watching the final,"" recalled Smith. The whole country was at a standstill. Everybody was watching the game. It was amazing to see. Their players became household names. The World Cup last year was phenomenal, by far the best tournament I've been to with the attendances [average 23,000], the way the Germans put on the event and the amazing quality of the football. I hope the Olympics will surpass that. The Olympics is a great platform for us to showcase women's football. The talent that will be here is mouth-watering. Marta from Brazil stands out as one of the best female players ever to play the game. She's got everything: technique, vision, power and speed. Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd from America are good. Caroline Seger from Sweden leads by example. We've got some good players. Rachel Williams did really well last year for Birmingham. She's a young raw talent."" Goalkeeping standards, traditionally perceived as weak, have improved. "You are always going to get that stigma but there are some very, very good goalkeepers and there are some average to poor goalkeepers," she continued. The Swedish player Hedvig Lindahl is very good, tall in stature. Hope Solo [of the US] is regarded as the best goalie in the world. England have some strength in depth. Rachel Brown [Everton] is No 2, having lost her position to Karen Bardsley [Linkoping]. The GB team at the Olympics will be coached by Hope Powell, whose work with England has been so widely acclaimed. There have even been radio debates over whether Powell could do the men's job, succeeding Fabio Capello. The unlikely scenario was addressed by Smith. She definitely has the leadership qualities. She's done wonders for the game here, bringing England from nearly nothing to a top-10 ranked side. Tactically, she's very good at watching other teams, picking out their strengths and weaknesses. It's down to people who are higher at the FA. One of those, Kelly Simmons, the FA's Head of National Game, cannot see a women managing England's men quite yet. There was an Italian woman, Carolina Morace, who coached a men's team [Viterbese in 1999] but globally the football culture isn't quite there yet. The main thing is to develop the best coaches we can. We have some fantastic role models like Hope Powell, Mo Marley and Laura Harvey. Harvey's Arsenal, unfortunately without the injured Smith, entertain Marley's Everton Ladies on Sunday as the WSL returns in buoyant mood.