“There was no need for that, was there really? Ridiculous. That’s disrespectful” – Steph Houghton

Steph Houghton is having a fine tournament but her 2019 World Cup memories will always be tinged with regret.

All tournament, Steph Houghton, Mille Bright and goalkeeper Karen Bardsley have handled what most countries have thrown at them. In the World Cup semi-finals, though, Bardsley missed out through injury, Bright was red-carded and Houghton missed a late penalty as England lost 2-1.

In the 84th minute, after a lengthy Video Assistant Referee [VAR] hold-up, Houghton stood over a spot-kick that would level the semi at 2-2. The England captain did not look confident before the kick and her tame effort was handily saved.

England's Steph Houghton sees her soft penalty, awarded after #VAR check, saved by Alyssa Naeher #rtesoccer pic.twitter.com/8LeVzYPwBd

— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 2, 2019

It would prove England’s last big goalscoring opportunity. Houghton and her teammates now go to the 3rd and 4th place playoff while the USA have reached another final.

Following the game, the Manchester City star told the BBC:

“It’s hard to put into words. We took one of the best teams in the world all the way. I’m so proud but I’m disappointed with the penalty and the goals we conceded.

“Ultimately we know that we can beat them and our aim was to win and we didn’t do that. I got told today [that I’d be taking any penalty] and I’ve been practising them a lot and I was confident.

“I just didn’t get a good connection. I’m gutted. I’ve let the team down. I’m gutted and heartbroken. We were so close but I’m proud of everyone because we gave it everything.”

Houghton was then stopped by talkSport as she headed up the tunnel. During her interview with the English station, Houghton was distracted by USA players celebrating nearby.

Houghton identified Linsey Horan as one of the boisterous, celebrating Americans while the midfielder was said to be in the company of Alyssa Naeher, who saved that late English penalty.

Horan (pictured above) had ruffled several English feathers during the 90+ minutes and had Phil Neville screaming for her to be cautioned, in the first half, after she clashed with Lucy Bronze.

Houghton was sharing her thoughts with talkSport when, after a while, she turned to remonstrate with the USA stars:

“There was no need for that, was there really? … Ridiculous. That was disrespectful, man.”

Houghton wanted out of there and asked the reporter if she could end the interview there. You can listen to that interview here, with the altercation happening in the final four minutes of the 30-minute clip.

You can understand why the Americans were whooping it up but, had they seen Houghton there, you would have expected them to move on.

The next meeting of these two countries, like last night’s encounter, will have some bite.

As for the final, the USA will meet either Sweden or The Netherlands who are competing in the remaining semi on Wednesday evening. You can watch that final at Dublin’s Tramline bar, on Sunday from 2:45pm, in the company of Irish internationals Louise Quinn, Megan Campbell, Aine O’Gorman and PlayXPlay host Jenny Murphy: