England boss Neville claims Lionesses must put on ‘best-ever’ show to beat Germany
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PHIL NEVILLE claimed his players must put on their ‘best-ever’ show to overcome Germany — and swerve the circus.
The Lionesses are set to break the record attendance for a women’s match in this country, after selling out the 90,000 capacity at Wembley.
But England’s boss wants his team — captained by Steph Houghton — to block out any distractions and only focus on the win today.
Following their semi-final defeat to the US at the World Cup, England have been playing friendlies in preparation for Euro 2021 on home soil.
Neville had been under pressure after going FIVE games without a victory.
Their winless run only ended when they saw off Portugal 1-0 on October 8 — thanks to a goalkeeping howler.
Neville said: “The Germans know what they are doing. They are consistent and that’s what you will see.
“You’ll see a team that won’t fold, that will be disciplined, and won’t be scared of the occasion. Our players have to play as good as they’ve ever played under me to get that win.
“England versus Germany is one of the biggest and best fixtures on the calendar.
“It’s going to be a special occasion, especially with the amount of people at the game. But from a team point of view, we want to let the fans enjoy this historical occasion and focus on putting on a performance.
“As manager of this team we need to reach the heights we did in the summer — if not better that.
“Ultimately we’re playing the second-best team in the world with great experience.
“When you get to games like this we have to forget the sideshow around us.
“We have to focus on winning the game — I think that’s really important for those players and the people coming to watch us.”
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The last time these two old foes met at the home of English football was five years ago in a friendly in front of half the numbers expected today.
A then-record crowd of 45,619 witnessed Germany thrash the Lionesses 3-0 in the hosts’ first-ever match at the new Wembley.
Neville’s squad then travel to face the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
