England captain Faye White will play through the pain barrier in quest for Euro glory

England women's lionhearted captain Faye White is determined to play in tonight's European Championship final against old enemy Germany – even if she has to wear a face mask.

The powerful centre-back, described by coach Hope Powell as “a mountain for the team”, fractured and dislocated her cheek bone in the quarter-final victory over host nation Finland.

White flew to London with Football Association honcho Sir Trevor Brooking and was operated on by the same surgeon who helped men’s skipper John Terry when he suffered a similar injury in 2007.

The Arsenal star, 31, flew back to Finland to witness England’s 2-1 semi-final win over Holland on Sunday – a result that meant the Lionesses reached their first major final in 25 years.

And now she is willing to push herself through the pain barrier to take back the captain’s armband and help England against the World and European champions Germany – a team they have never beaten.

“I think pain is only temporary,” said White, who is set to win her 69th cap in Helsinki. “You think, if you get this far, I'll do everything to play – so, I'll see how it goes, how it feels.

“But I certainly wouldn't put the team in jeopardy if I didn't think I was capable of doing it and be able to give my all – it’s the European final, so if I don’t feel I can do that I will tell them.

“It is by far the biggest game of my career – and you don't get this far and wimp out. It was brilliant to get the operation done so quickly.”

White believes she has lost three years of her career thanks to injuries – she has suffered cruciate ligament damage in both knees and broken her nose four times.

She continued: “Ian (Hutchinson) had done John Terry's face so that was reassuring, although he'd also done my nose in 2007, after the World Cup. He joked, 'It's not good to see you,' and I said, 'the feeling's mutual!’

“Ian discharged me at midday on Saturday after I'd had X-rays to make sure he was happy with the results of the surgery. He'd also organised for me to get 3D digital photos done for my face mask.

“I've had a lot of injuries and keep coming back after each one. When you've come back, you realise  you can get over it. It only hurts for a little while, so there's always a brighter side.”

And despite the fact that Germany, who have won the last two World Cups and the past four European Championships, have defeated England in 14 out of 16 games, White is confident the Lionesses can be crowned queens of Europe.

“We've never beaten Germany before, but that doesn't mean it can't happen,” she added. “It's only 90 minutes and anything can happen in a final.

“In the last few years we've got closer to them and when we had a goalless draw against them at the World Cup in 2007, we had chances to win that game.

“When you get to a final it's nice to beat the best and we believe we can do that. They are the best, but we won't be intimidated and if we play to our potential, we can beat them - we've not come this far to lose the final.”