United States coach Jill Ellis insists her team is not arrogant as they prepare to face England in the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup on Tuesday.
Defender Ali Krieger said earlier this month that the strength in depth available to Ellis means the United States not only have the best team on the planet but also the second-best team.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference, however, Ellis said: “It’s really a comment about ourselves.
“It’s really a comment about how she (Krieger) feels because she’s played on two different teams and she has the right to say that if that’s how she feels.
“It’s important that our team has confidence, I don’t think in any way this is an arrogant team.
“I think this team knows they’ve got to earn everything, that we’ve got tough opponents still ahead of us and we have to earn every right to advance in this tournament.”
Portsmouth-born Ellis has not been surprised to see England make progress under manager Phil Neville, who spent part of his career playing for Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
“A lot of us are products of our environment and he had a pretty good mentor there for a while,” Ellis added.
“I definitely think the team has made strides, you can see that they’ve bought into what he wants them to do, you can see that they are playing hard, so I think he’s done a really good job.”
Alex Morgan is currently joint top scorer with five goals but insists winning the Golden Boot is not a priority.
“I would love someone on our team to win the golden boot, of course, it would be a great accolade, but that’s not my goal,” Morgan said.
“My goal is to help this team win a World Cup so as long as the goals continue to come then I’m happy.
“Right now Megan Rapinoe has put the team on her back from Spain to France and it’s going to take players like that, and a couple of individuals each game to step up and really help carry this team.”
