England women manager, Phil Neville, has said the referee and not his captain, Steph Houghton, is to blame for their 2-1 defeat to USA in the Women’s World Cup semi-final.
Houghton stepped up after a VAR review adjudged Ellen White to have been fouled by Becky Sauerbrunn but saw a scuffed effort easily saved by goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.
However, speaking to BBC Sport after the match, Neville claimed the referee “lost control of the game”.
“I couldn’t ask for more. We had the time of our lives. Steph Houghton has had an incredible year. She’s an amazing person on and off the pitch.
“She’ll be upset. She’s been phenomenal. No blame should be attached to her,” he said.
England’s dream collapsed in the second half as they saw the penalty missed, White’s apparent equaliser ruled out by VAR for a fractional offside and Millie Bright deservedly sent off late on for a second yellow.
“We just ran out of steam. I asked them to play football the way we wanted. We’ve done our very best. I’ve told them no tears tonight.
“The disallowed goal was offside, we’ve had VAR decisions go our way. We got on with it. Millie Bright shouldn’t have been booked in the first half.
“The referee wasn’t really in control of the game. Then we went to three at the back and got stretched.
“That’s football. That’s sport. You’ve got to pick yourselves up. We’ve got a big game on Saturday. We’ll go again,” Neville added.
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