ENGLAND MANAGER PHIL Neville rallied behind captain Steph Houghton after she saw her penalty saved in the Lionesses’ devastating Women’s World Cup semi-final exit to the US women’s national team.
Houghton stepped up after a VAR review adjudged Ellen White to have been fouled by Becky Sauerbrunn, but saw a scuffed effort easily saved by goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.
But England had relied on the 31-year-old’s leadership and inspirational defending throughout the tournament – and Neville had nothing but praise for her.
“I couldn’t ask for more,” he said after the game.
“We had the time of our lives. Steph Houghton has had an incredible year. She’s an amazing person on and off the pitch.
She’ll be upset. She’s been phenomenal. No blame should be attached to her.”
England’s dream collapsed around them in the second half as they saw the penalty missed, White’s apparent equaliser ruled out by VAR for a fractional offside, and Millie Bright deservedly sent off late on for a second yellow.
Phil Neville says he's proud of his players, saying 'should be no tears' and they've 'touched the hearts of the nation' back in England #rtesoccer #WomensWorldCup2019 pic.twitter.com/iIcQLr2eLM
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 2, 2019
But manager Neville was pleased with the character and quality shown by his side against the reigning champions and the world’s number one-ranked side.
“We just ran out of steam. I asked them to play football the way we wanted. We’ve done our very best. I’ve told them no tears tonight,” he said.
“The disallowed goal was offside, we’ve had VAR decisions go our way. We got on with it. Millie Bright shouldn’t have been booked in the first half.
The referee wasn’t really in control of the game. Then we went to three at the back and got stretched.
“That’s football. That’s sport. You’ve got to pick yourselves up. We’ve got a big game on Saturday. We’ll go again.”
England will find out on Wednesday their opponents for Saturday’s third-place play-off game, with the Netherlands and surprise package Sweden taking to the field in the second semi-final.
The match will be a chance for the Lionesses to move beyond Tuesday’s disappointment and end the tournament on a high, before resetting and looking forward to the next competition.
With Euro 2021 hosted on home soil, England will be hoping Tuesday’s setback is just another step on a larger journey towards vindication in a major tournament.
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He announced this week’s ago. Also ye are reporting today that McTominnay has declared for Scotland. That was announced last week.
I downloaded the app for up to date news, not old news I’d already heard.
@Trev Gilmore: to be fair McTominay was not called up today. But yeah, the Carrick news is old
@Dave O Keeffe: *was only called up today
@Trev Gilmore: no, he didn’t. Jose did.
Underused by England and underrated by clueless fans. A top class midfielder.
@The Bloody Nine: Agree 100% (Liverpool fan here)
@Keith Synnott: me too.
A Rolls Royce of a player.
So long Michael………it was a pleasure to watch you.
@David Sinclair: only comes out for the weddings is it?!
If I recall correctly, in LVG’S first season, Carrick was out injured in the early part of the season and United were struggling by mid November. Carrick came back from injury to help steady the ship and I think they won 8 and drew 2 of the next 10 games. He would have been 32/33 back then but he was still able to show what a good player he was to help turn United’s fortunes around. He was always unappreciated by the (non United) fans and pundits in Ireland like Giles and Dunphy, particularly on Champions League nights, because he had taken the place, and the jersey, of Roy Keane. Very underrated player, still capable of doing a job if required before he retires at end of season.
@Sloop John G: Always liked Carrick as a player Sloop John, don’t support any club he played for but he was the ultimate pro, and he played in teams where box box and scoring midfielders took the plaudits, Carrick doh knitted it all together held up play left players get into position and played the pass, sounds easy but he made it look easy not a bad medal haul either, will be missed by many football fans.
His watch is nearly ended. He did a fantastic job for the club,no messing,just got on with the job.
And he just learned to pass the ball forward. A legend though with a nice family life
A fine player who hardly ever put in a poor performance, unappreciated because he was seen as Keane’s replacement which he wasn’t and could never be.
@Eamonn Ó Maoldomhnaigh: That’s a good one Eamonn, now why didn’t I think of that :-)