Former Lioness Anita Asante has spoken about recovering from two ACL injuries and finding the motivation to keep going when football was taken away from her, crediting her close social network and family for their support during her rehabilitation

The former Arsenal and Chelsea defender, who represented Team GB at London 2012, has spoken about recovering from two ACL injuries, learning to handle failure and the nerves she still experiences after retiring from football.

Former England footballer Anita Asante has opened up about the two serious knee injuries that kept her away from the pitch for months, revealing how she learnt to deal with setbacks and overcome the fear of making mistakes.

The London-born defender, who won the historic quadruple with Arsenal in 2007 and later played for Chelsea, experienced several difficult periods during a career that also took her to the United States and Sweden.

Asante, who earned 71 England caps and represented Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics, said recovering from injuries meant finding the motivation to keep going when football was taken away from her.

Speaking to London Keynote Speakers Agency, she said: "I've had two ACLs, which takes you out nine months to a year of a season. So that's a lot of football that one misses."

For Asante, who retired from professional football in 2022, the support of those closest to her was essential during recovery.

"For me, it was always having a close social network. Often they were my teammates, who are like my friends. I refer to them as family because I spend the most time with them daily on the training pitch."

She added: "My family also is my sounding board, the ones I can be probably the most vulnerable with."

But the former Lioness said recovering from setbacks also required a change in how she thought about difficult experiences.

"Ultimately, I think it always comes back to how you recover from setbacks. How quickly I was able to bounce back and actually be able to look at it as a way to bounce forward."

Rather than dwelling on what had happened, Asante tried to find something valuable in the experience.

"Not to sit in the past, but what I could take from even the worst-case scenario. What are the positives I could take from that?"

She said those periods often involved reflecting on herself and finding the discipline needed to continue her rehabilitation.

"Often it was just learning about myself in those moments, that kind of silent reflection. Finding another level of discipline to commit to recovery or a loss or anything like that."

Asante also questioned the advice she received during rehabilitation, wanting to understand how each exercise would help her return to football.

"I'm trusting their knowledge, but I've also got to challenge it and ask, but why? How's it going to help me improve?"

She believes having a clear purpose was central to finding the motivation to recover.

"Why do I do what I do? Why do I want to try and get myself back to where I have been or how I have felt when I've been at my highest and when I felt my best?"

"That's my purpose."

'The last thing has gone now'

Asante said learning to recover from mistakes during matches was another important part of her career.

A misplaced pass, missed tackle or wasted chance could easily affect a player's confidence, particularly when frustration began to show in their body language.

"Often when things go wrong on the pitch, a pass, a misplaced tackle, a missed shot, for example, it's easy to show negative body language," she explained.

Her response was to concentrate on what she needed to do next.

"The next thing to do is to focus on the next immediate action."

That could mean returning to her defensive position, recognising an opposition attack or preparing to receive another pass.

"The last thing has gone now. So I can still make this a really good action by just focusing on it. That's how quickly things can change."

Asante believes players can train themselves to respond positively to mistakes rather than allowing one poor moment to affect the rest of their performance.

"Success for me is, I'm going to make mistakes in a game because that's the nature of the sport."

"But the success for me is how often I react with a positive behaviour that probably will lead to me executing something well."

She added: "How people react and training behaviour is actually something we all can train, how we move on to the next task positively."

Learning to put the team first

Asante began her senior career at Arsenal before joining Chelsea in 2008. She later played in the United States and Sweden, returning to Chelsea in 2018 before finishing her career at Aston Villa.

Moving between clubs and countries meant adjusting to different coaches, tactics and expectations.

"I think I had to adapt multiple times, not just playing in different countries, but different clubs as well, because the coaches I played for and the teams had different playing DNA and philosophies, which sometimes required me to do different things."

She explained that some teams preferred possession-based football, while others demanded a more direct approach.

"As a player, you have a natural bias towards the things you like to do and enjoy."

"But then I had to shift my mindset and recognise that playing the way that benefits the coach or the team most benefits all of us collectively, to get the result or to follow through with a game plan."

For Asante, the most difficult adjustment was often mental.

"A key part of that is mostly psychological as opposed to technical."

"It's being able to shift your mindset, your framework, and also take the 'I' and the ego out of it and think more about the collective."

'All eyes on you'

Since retiring, Asante has established herself in football broadcasting, working as a pundit and commentator.

But despite spending years playing in front of crowds and representing her country, she admitted that stepping into unfamiliar roles can still be daunting.

"I think the way I've approached it is putting myself in what one might term the deep end," she said.

"Just putting myself in situations that are unfamiliar to me or maybe have felt a bit daunting because of my lack of experience prior to transitioning into it."

Asante compared the experience to playing football, where every match brings unfamiliar challenges and situations.

"You don't know what to expect until you're in it."

"Once you're in it, you are constantly learning. If you're constantly curious, then you're asking questions about the environment you're in and how you can be better."

She also acknowledged that speaking to a live audience can be intimidating, even after years of competing at the highest level.

"In terms of speaking, I think I look at it as a bit of an adrenaline rush, but a nerve-wracking experience too, when you speak to a live audience, because you're front and centre, all eyes on you."

Rather than trying to eliminate those feelings, Asante has learnt to draw on her experience as an athlete.

"Having been an athlete, that adrenaline rush and nerves are part of being an athlete as well."

"I'm familiar with those feelings, so I find ways to harness it in each transition as well."