Phil Neville Wants Smile after England World Cup

Phil Neville says that he likes smiles and not tears after the third consecutive defeat of England in the major tournament. It is driven by the belief that the Lionesses are close to catching up with the best in the world. The coach of England after the 2-1 defeat of the team said that he doesn’t have regrets and he has to say that it had been the most interesting 90 minutes of his life as the manager. He refuses to be cowed. England missed a chance to take over the game in the latter half when Steph Houghton, the key-center half and the captain saved a penalty.

Neville said that Steph had been the best penalty taker and he defended his decision to not giving the kick to a striker. He said that they had worked on the decision for 6 months but sometimes you miss and sometimes you score. However, they have shown that they are getting close to the USA, the defending champions. He entered the post-match debrief with a smile and said he needs a beer to get over the disappointment prior to the play-off on Saturday for the third place against Sweden or Netherlands in Nice.

Neville stated that there are no words which can make the players feel better but the manner in which they have played in making him proud and joyful. He says that he wanted to see smiles and not tears. Nevertheless, they now have to perform in Nice. According to him, he has already moved on and is all set to look forward to the game on Saturday. If his team gives similar efforts as the game in the previous game, they have a chance to win. Neville says that they had said before the game that they would like to leave their soul and heart on the pitch and they were successful in doing that.