The accent is unmistakably Californian but the heart is Mancunian and there will be no prouder player than Karen Bardsley when the England goalkeeper faces the United States on Friday evening.
England's opening match at the FIFA Women's World Cup, against France, is less than four months away and for manager Mark Sampson and his team the fine-tuning continues this week at stadiummk against formidable opposition.
The US are two-time former World Cup winners, the product of a society where the women's game exists on a platform comparable to that enjoyed by the men's elite. England women have never been beyond a World Cup quarter-final, and professionalism is only just seeping through. Salaries are modest, to say the least.
Yet Bardsley never doubted to which country she would pledge her allegiance, with an "influx of English influence" from dad Geoff and mum Kay, ex-pats from Greater Manchester, convincing a young Karen her destiny was the Three Lions rather than the Stars and Stripes.
"Back in the day I was sending the FA loads of emails, letters and video tapes, sending these packets two or three times a month, saying, 'Look at this video! Watch me play!'," Bardsley told Press Association Sport.
"That carried on for two or three years and they didn't really get hold of me until I was 17 or 18.
"I was sending all those over from Chino Hills - that meant lots of postage.
"It would be great to play for the States, but England is my family's country so I thought it would mean a lot more if I represented England. I'd been trying for years to get in touch and it finally all worked out."
Bardsley has almost a decade of international experience behind her, establishing herself as first choice over the last four years, first for Hope Powell and now under Sampson.
She grew up supporting Manchester United, and grandad Derek would post Bardsley the latest Peter Schmeichel shirt each season, but she now plays for Manchester City Ladies.
Incongruous with her first love? Not according to 30-year-old Bardsley, who made the move to Eastlands from Lincoln 15 months ago. The levels of investment, financially and culturally, City have invested in their women's side has made them a club players are falling over themselves to join.
"I'm hoping I'm not going to get stitched up here," Bardsley says, laughing. "It was fantastic to join City. Obviously United don't have a women's squad. City have been incredible and really stepped up to the plate."
Bardsley is relishing England's clash with the US, who are ranked second in the FIFA rankings, behind only the Germany team that inflicted a painful 3-0 defeat on Sampson's team in November.
"It's really exciting to be able to play a team of America's calibre," Bardsley said.
"We need to face as good opposition as we can get. It's a great test for us, to figure out where we are at the minute and with it being a first match of the season we can gauge which direction we need to progress in and where we need to work the most."
Source: PA
