England’s women hit ‘a bump in the road’
PHIL NEVILLE said he welcomed this result, as England’s 45-month unbeaten home run ended in defeat by Sweden in a friendly at Rotherham yesterday. The England women’s coach admitted he was among those getting carried away by the ‘massive euphoria’ that has accompanied his team’s rise to third in the world rankings ahead of next summer’s World Cup in France. England had not lost at home since the United States beat them in Milton Keynes in February 2015. Here, they were sluggish in a first half in which Sweden, organised and seemingly first to every second ball, deserved their two-goal lead. First, in the 20th minute, Sofia Jakobsson lifted a 20-yard shot over Carly Telford, then, 11 minutes later, Anna Anvegard capitalised on a loose ball after a corner to fire into the net. England, driven on by Steph Houghton, who won her 100th cap, rallied after the break but Izzy Christiansen lifted their best chance over the crossbar from Lucy Bronze’s pull-back. ‘It’s a disappointment, maybe one that we needed,’ Neville said, after a first defeat in nine games. ‘I think for the last 12 months everything’s gone really smoothly and there’s this massive euphoria around this team and rightly so. They’ve earned the right for the attention and the expectation. ‘We’re on this crest of a wave, everything’s going absolutely perfect and it’s just a little bump in the road to remind everyone that in eight months’ time, nobody’s going to come knocking at our door and give us the World Cup so we’ve just got to keep working at it.’