HOUGHTON’S AGONY OVER PENALTY

STEPH HOUGHTON’S absence spoke louder than words in the aftermath of her devastating penalty miss in the semi-final defeat by the United States. The England captain has been willing to discuss every bump in the road in this Women’s World Cup, but she did not stop to talk late into the evening in the Stade de Lyon. In the on-pitch huddle Phil Neville instituted, as always, after the game she stared implacably into space, trying to avoid eye contact. After an unimaginably tough time coming to terms with her husband Stephen Darby’s Motor Neurone Disease diagnosis, this outcome was desperate. When the dust settles, she can reflect on a tournament in which she has telegraphed her abilities to the world. Houghton has placed a tackle in the six-yard box one minute — a risky endeavour in the world of VAR — and despatched a 40-yard cross-field pass the next. Her tackle at the death against Japan’s Yuka Sugasawa will live long in the memory. In some ways, Houghton is not the most obvious captain. She is not a shouter and less comfortable than some with the unprecedented media attention the last month has brought the England team. ‘I wouldn’t use the word reluctant,’ she said a few weeks ago, reflecting on her appointment. She said she wanted to be perceived as a leader, though. ‘In terms of leading by example. I feel as though that’s what my game is. Trying to drive the team forward, win my tackles, win my headers.’ She said in the same conversation that her last five years had been built around competing in this tournament. Her friend and team-mate Lucy Bronze said after the defeat: ‘I’ve spoken to her. But Steph knows exactly what we all think of her. It’s a huge amount of pressure to take the penalty and just because she’s not scored, the blame is not on her. We’re a team. We win and lose together.’