LOW-KEY END FOR ENGLAND
But Neville upbeat after play-off defeat
ENGLAND’S World Cup petered out in the cloying heat of the Allianz Riviera Stadium last night with their players trudging off the pitch to the backdrop of Abba singing Waterloo over the loudspeaker system.
The truth is that England met theirs against the USA in Lyon last week. This defeat by Sweden in the third-place play-off was only a skirmish in comparison but it was a skirmish too far.
Defeat meant no bronze medal to match England’s achievement in Canada four years ago and Ellen White’s failure to score — courtesy of a VAR decision against her — confirmed she has missed out on the Golden Boot. Phil Neville’s side were hoping for consolation to cling to after their semi-final defeat by the USA but there was none here.
Neville walked into a row after the defeat by branding the third-placed match a ‘nonsense game’, a description which fits with his mantra that winning is everything but provoked the ire of some players from the 2015 squad, who were brought up in a different culture.
‘Try telling the 23 players who went to Canada that a bronze-medal match is a “nonsense game”,’ goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain Tweeted. ‘Winning a medal at the World Cup is a great achievement and I guarantee you that every player out there wanted a medal just as much.’
Neville defended the phrase later. ‘We came to this tournament to win gold,’ he said. ‘Winning is all that matters. Not finishing third, fourth or second. We are not disrespecting it. We wanted to win more than anything but we wanted to win gold. That’s why I said it was a nonsense.
‘We won bronze in 2015 and it’s now 2019 and the hurt in the dressing room is because we wanted gold.
‘Accepting second best is something that we are not going to do. I am talking about how we felt as a group.
‘That is sport. Nobody remembers the losers. They just remember the winners. We want to be winners and eventually I think we will be.’
Sweden took the lead in the 12th minute while Steph Houghton was off the pitch receiving treatment. Alex Greenwood made a hash of clearing a speculative ball into the box and hit it straight to Kosovare Asllani. Asllani lashed the ball past Carly Telford from 12 yards.
England fell further behind midway through the half. The ball was played to Sofia Jakobsson deep in England territory and when she advanced into the box, she used Houghton as a screen and, with Telford unsighted, bent the ball cleverly around the England skipper and into the corner of the net.
Suddenly, England hit back. Fran Kirby collected the ball midway inside the Swedish half and ran at Linda Sembrant. Kirby cut inside and curled the ball past Hedvig Lindahl and in off the post.
A minute later, England thought they were level. White controlled a ball in from Beth Mead with her back to goal and wriggled past Sembrant before hooking a low shot into the net. VAR suggested that the ball had brushed White’s arm as she was tussling with the defender and the goal was ruled out.
On the stroke of half-time, White had a chance to score again when Nikita Parris played her through but she hit her shot tamely at Lindahl.
England thought they had equalised in the last minute when Lucy Bronze’s piledriver from 12 yards out seemed destined for goal only for it to be headed off the line by Nilla Fischer. It was England’s last chance.