Soccer-Roebuck's return from stroke a victory, but may be too late for Lionesses

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - While England goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck was left out of Sarina Wiegman's latest squad and may miss this year's European Championship, the fact the 25-year-old is back playing at all after a stroke feels like a victory.

Roebuck featured in England's triumph at Euro 2022 and was part of the squad who finished runners-up at the World Cup a year later, but said that she was fortunate to retain her sight after suffering a stroke just over a year ago.

"I'm lucky because I should have lost my vision," Roebuck told the BBC. "I should have lost my peripheral vision for sure. The majority of people that suffer a stroke (like mine) do that. So, I probably should have been blind, which is quite a miracle that that didn't happen.

"It filled me with panic, but I never had in my mind that it was a stroke. (The Manchester City club doctor) sat me down and was like, 'you've had an infarct in your left occipital lobe'. I asked 'what's that in English?' And then he said it was a type of stroke."

Roebuck played her last game for Manchester City in May 2023 but was still able to secure a move to European champions Barcelona the next year. She made a triumphant return after 19 months in Barcelona's 4-1 league win over Real Betis in December.

England have two upcoming Nations League games, against Portugal on Friday, and World Cup holders Spain on Wednesday.

Roebuck, who has 11 caps for England, said representing the Lionesses has always been the "highest privilege" in her career, but acknowledged her comeback may have come too late in time for the Euros in Switzerland in July.

"It's difficult because that's something that's not in my hands," she said. "Nothing is given. I know that I need to be playing consistently week in, week out, but for me it's more than that, it's a journey that I'm on."

(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Christian Radnedge)