USA the standard-bearers, but England will catch up – Neville

The United States may have beaten England to return to the Women’s World Cup final, but Phil Neville is adamant his Lionesses will eventually bridge the gap.

England suffered a third successive semi-final defeat at a major tournament as Jill Ellis’ defending champions claimed a 2-1 victory in Lyon even without an injured Megan Rapinoe to reach their third straight final.

Rapinoe’s replacement, Christen Press, headed in the first and though Ellen White equalised for the Lionesses, Alex Morgan scored what proved to be the winner as Steph Houghton had a late penalty saved by USA goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.

USA can now move into England’s hotel, with members of their backroom team having controversially done so before the semi-final, but Neville warned that they will not remain on their perch forever having seen how his old club Manchester United have struggled since Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.

“They can now have our hotel,” Neville joked.

“They’re the standard-bearers. I played for a football club that won a lot in a long space of time. We were the ones that everyone wanted to catch.

What a performance, it deserved more #Lionesses pic.twitter.com/pjyzk1HKU0

— Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 2, 2019

“Eventually teams caught Man United and eventually we will catch USA. At the moment they’re the best team because of that winning mentality.

“We will get there, we are closing the gap.

“We’ve got to keep investing in the pathway, driving standards within our leagues and young players. We’ve got to keep having sustained success and keep building the momentum that we’ve got.

“America have got that winning mentality of knowing what it means to win. We will get that, we’re learning that, developing that, coaching that every single day. 

“It doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time. We will get there.”