| International friendly: England Women v Canada Women |
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| Venue: Academy Stadium, Manchester Date: Friday, 5 April Kick-off: 19:15 BST |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC Four and BBC Sport website & app from 19:00 BST; live text commentary on BBC Sport website & app |
England women’s manager Phil Neville says his players want to be talked about in their sport the way the All Blacks are in rugby union.
Neville said his team want to develop into “one of the greatest teams in the world” over the next five to 10 years.
“[We were] talking about objectives. I wanted them to say ‘win the World Cup’ but they went bigger,” Neville said.
“I was like, ‘wow, they’re thinking bigger than I thought they were’. I had to readjust my own objectives.”
He said his players told him they “want to be talked about like the All Blacks, leave legacies that the young kids of today will always remember”.
The Lionesses continue their preparations for this summer’s World Cup with a friendly against Canada in Manchester on Friday.
England beat Canada 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the 2015 World Cup and Neville expects them to regard his team as a “scalp” given their current good form, which saw them win the SheBelieves Cup with victories over Brazil and Japan and a draw with reigning world champions the USA.
“If I was in the Canada side or the manager, I would be thinking, ‘let’s get right into England – they’ve just won the SheBelieves, they’re talking about winning the World Cup’,” Neville said.
“We’re a scalp. So for me, it’s a question of how can my players handle that?”
‘Brutal’ rehab for Christiansen
Neville also provided an update on injured midfielder Izzy Christiansen, who has returned to her club Lyon to continue her “brutal” rehabilitation.
Neville, who hopes Christiansen will recover from the ankle problem in time for the summer, said: “Izzy was with us on Monday.
“She’s gone back to Lyon now because we need her to have one-to-one treatment, virtually 24 hours a day.”
England play a second friendly against Spain in Swindon on 9 April. The World Cup begins in France on 7 June, with the Lionesses’ opening game against Scotland on 9 June.
