U.S. women’s soccer star Christen Press EMBRACES England coach Phil Neville’s ‘ruthless’ label

After publicly accusing the United States women’s soccer team of showing poor etiquette in the days ahead of their crucial World Cup matchup in Lyon, France, England coach Phil Neville has finally said something the Americans can agree with: They’re ruthless.   

Neville, the former Manchester United star, saw that ruthlessness as the U.S. closed out its quarterfinal win over the World Cup hosts, France. 

‘America has got that ruthless streak of wanting to win,’ Neville told reporters Monday ahead of Tuesday’s all-important semifinal. ‘You saw the last five minutes of the [quarterfinal] game against France. The game management was fantastic. They took the ball into the corner, they knew what it took to win, and they celebrated like winners. That’s what I admire, and that’s what my team has now. It’s about winning.’

U.S. forward Christen Press certainly sees that cold-blooded quality. 

‘I would characterize it as optimism that we’re going to win,’ Press told reporters. ‘But there is a ruthlessness to this team. And that’s win at all costs. 

‘That means tactically adapt in a way that we never have in four years,’ she continued. ‘And you have to do that to win. … It’s incredible that we could change and still be so solid.’

Neville had recently accused the U.S. team of showing poor etiquette by sending two staff members to scout the hotel in Lyon where the English players are staying.

The Americans and England-born U.S. coach Jill Ellis disagreed, insisting they were doing their due diligence by scouting the facility in the event that they beat England on Tuesday.

‘I would assume everybody is doing that,’ Ellis said Sunday, ‘you have to plan ahead.’

But amid that tension, and the public uproar over an American team that’s been described as arrogant and unsportsmanlike, Neville’s suggestion that the U.S. women are ‘ruthless’ was actually taken as a compliment.

U.S. goalkeeper goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher Naeher explained that it’s just a part of the team’s DNA.

‘That’s the root of the U.S. women’s national team, from back to the teams from 20 years ago,’ she said. ‘And that’s always been the U.S. mentality and that’s something that every veteran player has instilled in all the new players as we’ve come in. It’s now our job to carry that through.’ 

The three-time champions have been called brash and confident at this World Cup, starting with their 13-0 win over Thailand, when they were criticized for celebrating every goal.

Veteran Carli Lloyd poked fun at the pearl-clutching during the team’s 3-0 win over Chile by celebrating one of her two goals with a sarcastic golf clap.

But while that the Americans did score 10 fewer goals, the reality was the game was primarily played by backups, prompting defender Ali Krieger to boast that the U.S. has ‘the best team and the second-best team in the world.’

The U.S. shutout of nemesis Sweden and the subsequent 2-1 knockout stage wins over Spain and France only supported Krieger’s claim.

Now, England sees itself as perhaps the last hope of a fourth American Women’s World Cup title.

The teams have met just once before in the World Cup, a 3-0 U.S. win in the 2007 quarterfinals. But earlier this year the teams played to a 2-all tie in the SheBelieves Cup – a much-needed confidence boost ahead of the biggest match in English women’s soccer history.

‘My players now want to win,’ Neville said. ‘If we don’t get the right result, we’ll feel the disappointment and we’ll see that as a failure. That’s not me being negative, that’s just our expectations, and our belief and our confidence and our mindset.’