Phil Neville says England Women will become No 1 in the world
Wednesday 28 March 2018 13:03, UK
England Women's head coach Phil Neville is convinced his team will become the No 1 side in the world.
The former Manchester United and Everton midfielder took charge of the national team in January and, after an encouraging start at the SheBelieves Cup, which included a 4-1 thrashing of France and a draw with Germany, England moved up to second place in the FIFA rankings.
That is England's highest standing - but Neville is convinced there is more to come from his squad and, with the 2019 Women's World Cup on the horizon, the target is to overtake USA.
"We are at the start of something really special," Neville said, at the announcement of a new partnership between the FA and Mars, which includes a focus on growing the women's game.
"Even in the five or six weeks I've been in the job, from day one until now, the expectation levels have risen. The popularity has risen.
"When we went up to second in the world I got goosebumps. I thought 'wow, the exposure around going to second, imagine what it will be like when we go to first'. And we will get to first. I'm certain of it.
"There's nothing I didn't see in the first 10 days in America that doesn't convince me that we can get to first - and very quickly, because these girls are determined."
We will get to first. I'm certain of it.
Neville is also confident his players will be able to cope with the increased attention and pressure which comes with competing at the very top of the sport, and believes the England Women's team will embrace the big stage.
"We're playing Wales [in a World Cup qualifier] at Southampton in 10 days' time and there is probably going to be 25,000-30,000 people there, which is phenomenal," he said. "But the girls are so desperate for that stadium to be full they're not scared of the pressure.
"That's what's exciting for me. In the men's game you can get scared sometimes by expectation, but on the women's side the attitude is: 'bring it on'. The bigger they are the harder they fall.
"We want to grow the game as big as possible and expectation isn't something I'm worried about. They want it every minute of every day: how can we improve? How can we get better? How can we get bigger? How can we get more exposure?
"When you have attitudes like that, when we go to Orlando and play in front of 25,000 fans, they're not scared. They've worked their whole lives, sacrificed so much to get to that moment.
"These girls don't need motivating, they just need coaching and improving. They want to go out to that training field and every drill I put on for them they want to improve. If I tell them to do something they'll ask why and how is this going to make me better - and then want to do it 10 times more than I'm telling them to do it.
"As a coach you couldn't ask for a better environment in which to work. You've got 23, 24 girls who want to challenge you to make them better, to make the women's game bigger and better in general."
Neville is aware he and the England national team also carry a responsibility in terms of growing the women's game from the grassroots up.
While success on the field will drive interest, Neville says the FA - with the help of partnerships such as the one with Mars - must continue to invest in all levels of the women's game.
"The most important thing is to be successful on the field and then it has a spin-off effect off the field," said Neville. "We're second in the world and that is an unbelievable achievement. But for me, as a coach, you get nothing for second. We want to be the best.
"We want to make this game bigger, better and more global. But ultimately for me we've got to win World Cups. If we win a World Cup next summer then I think the world is our oyster for the women's game.
"We've just come back from America, where the female game is massive. We've got to ensure if we win the World Cup - when we win the World Cup - that it takes off as big here.
"The infrastructure, the facilities, the amount of coaches they've got at grassroots level [in America], is just incredible and that's the level we need to get to in the women's game."
