'I thought we were the better side' – England captain Houghton 'heartbroken' following USWNT loss

The Lionesses captain was proud of her side’s showing against the best side in the world, after her missed penalty proved the crucial moment

England captain Steph Houghton says she thought her side were the better team despite their 2-1 defeat to the U.S. women’s national team in Tuesday’s Women’s World Cup semi-final.

Houghton missed a penalty in the second half but was proud of her side’s showing against the world’s number one-ranked team and current World Cup holders.

The Lionesses had an Ellen White goal ruled out for offside as well as the missed penalty, and seemed to match the USA well after an initially frantic start. 

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live , Houghton said: “I’m heartbroken but I’m very proud of the team because we fought so hard in this tournament. It was so close against the best team in the world, but we are so disappointed. 

“I thought we were the better side in terms of how we played football, but ultimately, lapses in concentration cost us. 

“I got told today that I was on the penalties and I was confident because I had been scoring all week, but I didn’t connect with it properly and the goalkeeper guessed the right way.” 

With golden-boot chasing White and Nikita Parris both on the pitch, some fans were surprised to see Houghton step up, but the Manchester City defender is a regular set-piece taker – scoring the opener in the last 16 against Cameroon from a direct free-kick. 

England boss Phil Neville stood by his captain after the game , and White was quick to defend the Manchester City defender as well.

“The person stepping up takes a lot of courage and we’ll never put anything on Steph,” White told BBC Sport .

“She’s our leader. We’ll rally around them and get them ready for Saturday.

“I’m going to cry. I’m devastated not to get to the final. All I feel is pride for my team-mates.

“USA had an amazing match and we just couldn’t match them. I’m proud to be English and I wish them all the best in the final.

“We gave everything. In the first half we were sloppy. We got ourselves back into the game with the goal and it’s bitterly disappointing.

“We’ve got an unbelievable squad and we had so much belief that we’d get to that final but we just couldn’t do that on the day.”

Despite having a seventh ruled out, White moved to six goals in the competition with her first-half equaliser, finishing the game tied with Alex Morgan in the golden boot race.

With Morgan playing in the final and White in the third-place play-off, both forwards will have one more chance to make the trophy their own against either the Netherlands or Sweden.