England’s players left “their hearts and souls on the pitch” in their Women’s World Cup semi-final defeat by the USA, said boss Phil Neville.
The Lionesses lost 2-1 in Lyon, with Ellen White having a goal ruled out by the VAR for offside and captain Steph Houghton having a late penalty saved.
“I’ve told them no tears tonight,” said Neville. “I’m proud. They have touched the hearts of the nation.
“I couldn’t ask for more. We had the time of our lives.”
England must now shrug off the heartbreak of a third consecutive semi-final defeat in a major tournament to face either Sweden or the Netherlands in Saturday’s third-place play-off.
“That’s football,” he said. “That’s sport. You’ve got to pick yourselves up. We’ve got a big game on Saturday. We’ll go again.”
Neville had said anything other than reaching the final would be a “failure” – but after the game he spoke of his pride in his players.
The USA, who are the world’s top-ranked team and defending champions, led within 10 minutes from Christen Press’ header. Ellen White equalised for England with her sixth goal of the tournament, a tally matched by Alex Morgan when she put the USA back in front.
The real drama came after the break as White had a goal disallowed and was awarded a penalty, with both decisions made by the VAR – the latter after she was tripped by Becky Sauerbrunn.
Houghton’s spot-kick was saved by Alyssa Naeher, and Millie Bright was sent off late on for a second booking as the game drifted away from England.
“Football can be cruel,” Neville told BBC Radio 5 Live. “We have had a fantastic ride. When we got the penalty I turned to my bench and said ‘we are going to win it’ but it wasn’t to be.
“We knew it was going to be an open game and I felt they were starting to run out of steam in the second half.
“We only had a 10-minute period in the first half where we played with the belief that we talked about. We stood off them too much. We will learn massively from this.”
Neville accepted the offside decision against White was correct but said Bright should not have been shown her first yellow card and that he thought “the referee wasn’t really in control of the game”.
‘No blame should be attached’
Neville said “no blame should be attached to” captain Houghton, who has had a fantastic tournament but missed the penalty which ultimately cost them extra time.
“That was cruel,” said Neville. “She was outstanding in the game and she read everything.
“She has probably had the best season of her career. She had the courage to take the penalty and then keep playing football after. She is an amazing person and a world-class footballer.”
Nikita Parris had missed England’s previous two penalties in the tournament.
Manchester City defender Houghton said: “I got told today that I was on the penalties and I was confident because I had been scoring all week but I didn’t connect with it properly and the goalkeeper guessed the right way.
“I’m heartbroken but I’m very proud of the team because we fought so hard in this tournament. It was so close against the best team in the world but we are so disappointed.
“I thought we were the better side in terms of how we played football, but ultimately, lapses in concentration cost us.”
England goalscorer White added: “The person stepping up takes a lot of courage and we’ll never put anything on Steph – she’s our leader.”
‘I’m going to cry’
White’s goal put her top of the Golden Boot chart with six, but Morgan pulled level – and the American leads because of her three assists to White’s zero.
The game could have been different had White’s second-half strike – which was initially allowed – stood. The VAR offside decision was correct, albeit marginal.
The 30-year-old, who has joined Manchester City from Birmingham this summer, was in tears as she spoke to BBC Sport after the game.
“I’m going to cry,” she said. “I’m devastated not to get to the final.
“All I feel is pride for my team-mates. I’m proud to be English. USA had an amazing match and we just couldn’t match them. I wish them all the best in the final.
“We gave everything. In the first half we were sloppy. We got ourselves back into the game with the goal and it’s bitterly disappointing.
“We’ve got an unbelievable squad and we had so much belief that we’d get to that final but we just couldn’t do that on the day.”
