Phil Neville said “humility is one of our biggest values” after being accused of arrogance following “out of context” quotes used in the buildup to England’s 2-1 defeat to Norway in Bergen.
Five days after a draw with Belgium, a late goal meant Neville’s side lost against the team they beat in their World Cup quarter-final this summer. Georgia Stanway’s 10th-minute stunner was undone first by Frida Maanum’s header from a corner and then a Caroline Graham Hansen mazy run and strike into the roof of the net, leaving the England captain, Steph Houghton, on the ground on her way.
Neville’s reference to humility came after questions about the criticism he has faced. He went on: “I have bad days most days, everybody does. I was just saying I love this job, that when I look down at my shirt and see I’m senior women’s manager, with the three lions on my chest, really, I should never have a bad day, because every day I’m proud.”
Beforehand, Neville had said this game would be as far from a friendly as a friendly can be. “Two, three games ago we were in a quarter-final of a World Cup, Norway probably think they were unlucky, they want it. It’s in their home country. They’ve got their biggest crowd,” he said.
With Fran Kirby absent through injury, Stanway was handed another start in the No 10 role and she did not disappoint. “It was a top performance,” said Neville. “She’s now ready to play in those games. She’s getting better every single time we see her. She’s hungry. She’s the type of character I want in the squad. I think she’s got a massive future in the number 10 space.”
After the 3-3 draw with Belgium, Stanway was asked about whether she was enjoying being given Kirby’s role. “I do,” she said. “Just getting in the pockets and getting shots off, you’ve got the freedom to do what you want, to attack and defend and I really enjoyed it.”
Quick guide
England to host Brazil at Riverside
The FA has announced that England’s first home game since their fourth-place finish at the World Cup will be at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium against Brazil, on Saturday 5 October.
Phil Neville said: “It is great to be able to have secured this fixture against such opposition. I know a lot of work has gone into making it happen.
“Brazil will provide a different test to the other games we have lined up over the coming months, and it is always a special occasion when our two countries meet.
“I am also delighted that we will be playing in the north-east, a real footballing hotbed that has produced so many of our players over the years.”
A game against Germany at Wembley has already been announced for Saturday 9 November, with 60,000 tickets sold so far.
In that game the skilful 20-year-old threaded a sublime pass between the lines, taking out three defenders in the process, to put the ball on a plate for Jodie Taylor to score England’s first. The pass “pleasantly surprised her”, she said. “Usually I’d shoot. The girls will give me stick and say I had my David Silva head on.”
In Bergen, with the tree and house-lined mountains peering over the somewhat idyllic and unassuming stadium, Stanway chose to shoot. And what a shot. The Manchester City forward picked up a square ball on the edge of the penalty area and lashed a first-time effort in off the underside of the bar. She looked bemused, possibly again pleasantly surprising herself.
“Yeah I was [surprised again],” she said afterwards. “If I can be 20% of the player that Fran is then I’ll be happy.”
Neville had said Lucy Bronze’s powerful strike against Norway at the World Cup was the “moment that it took for Lucy to win European player of the year. That goal was the turning point, the one that set her apart from everything else.” If that was the moment to lift Bronze firmly into the elite, in Bergen surely we had seen the goal that would thrust Stanway firmly into first-team reckoning.
“That goal was special,” said Neville. “I actually thought her pass the other day was almost as good as the goal today, because to see the run from deep and get the weight and texture of the pass right was special. She’s a really good kid.”
England had been cruising before that but after the goal momentum switched. It took until the 53rd minute for the hosts to find the reply, though. A wonderful low fingertip save by Carly Telford from Amalie Eikeland was undone from the resulting corner. Swung in, it was met by Maanum in the middle and headed cleanly over the Chelsea keeper from close range. It was another goal conceded from a set piece to add to discontent about the team’s inability to deal with dead balls.
“It was one corner that we defend badly and we’re getting punished for that one corner so it looks like there’s a problem,” said Neville. “To concede a goal when we’re in control of the game is not acceptable. We’ve just got to be better at it.”
Where England relaxed after scoring, Norway upped the ante after their equaliser.
“We have periods of control,’ reflected Neville. “It’s just concentration, doing it for 90 minutes, basic things, basic passing. I never will have a go at them for trying to do the right thing. But when you try and do that it can stop the rhythm, it stops your ability to get confidence from the game. That’s what happened.
“They’ve come from the unbelievable high of the summer, now they’re back down on earth and it takes time to get back up.”
There was time for a moment of celebration near the end, with the goalkeeper Ingrid Hjelmseth substituted off to a standing ovation on her final appearance, aged 39, for the national team.
The festivities resumed moments later, when Hansen jigged her way into the box, wrong-footed Houghton, and blasted high over substitute goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck from an acute angle to give the hosts a win and a little revenge.
Northern Ireland deny Wales in stoppage time
Ashley Hutton’s injury-time header gave Northern Ireland a draw to dent Wales’ Women’s Euro 2021 qualifying hopes. Simone Magill’s header put the visitors ahead as they impressed in the Group C match at Rodney Parade.
Wales levelled when Angharad James’s shot deflected in off Emma Jones, before Kayleigh Green’s firm header looked to have won it for Wales. Marissa Callaghan then struck the crossbar before a mistake by goalkeeper Laura O’Sullivan allowed Hutton to head home.
“It feels like a loss and it was a bit of a shock the way we’ve been in training,” the Wales manager, Jayne Ludlow said. “We’ve come away from this one feeling like we’ve let ourselves down. We haven’t performed well in a lot of areas, and you could see the result was coming. We know we’re a work in progress, but we have made it harder for ourselves.”
