England women's team focused on their performance in record breaking match against Germany
SHOWS: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (NOVEMBER 8, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
1. ENGLAND PLAYERS WALK ON TO PITCH AT WEMBLEY
2. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS ON PITCH
3. PRESS CONFERENCE
4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PHIL NEVILLE, ENGLAND WOMEN'S TEAM MANAGER, SAYING:
"It's going to be a special occasion. A lot has been made about the amount of people coming to the game, I think from a team point of view from the minute we met up last Monday we've been focussing probably more on letting other people enjoy what's going to be a historical occasion and us focussing on putting in a performance.
"As the manager of this team I want to see us produce a performance tomorrow, I want us to maintain, reach the heights that we did in the summer, and if not better the performances, because ultimately we're playing the second best team in the world with great experience, great players.
"When you get to games like this my experience tells me you've got to forget the sideshow and the circus that's going on around this occasion tomorrow, and as players we've got to be 100% focused on producing a good performance and winning the game. I think that's really important for those players, for those people who are coming, for England to put on a really good show and perform and to win the game."
5. PLAYERS JOGGING
6. WEMBLEY SIGN IN STADIUM
7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PHIL NEVILLE, ENGLAND WOMEN'S TEAM MANAGER, SAYING:
"It will be a great end to the year in terms of the size of the occasion. I actually think that this type of occasion, this type of challenge, is what the players need coming off the back of the World Cup, where we all reached a massive emotional high. We've probably all found it a bit difficult to get back up to that high, mentally, physically, but this is the type of game where there are no excuses, it's the biggest game that England's women's team has ever had, in terms of the size of the game, and I think emotionally, physically, tactically, we need to be at our absolute very best. I've got to say the focus this week has been great, there's been a great buzz around the camp and everybody is waiting for 530 tomorrow."
8. NEVILLE COACHING
9. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS TRAINING
10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JILL SCOTT, ENGLAND MIDFIELDER, SAYING:
"I think it's just that even to say that that many people are coming to Wembley to support a women's game. I was fortunate enough to play at Wembley for Team GB and I think we had over 70,000 there when we played Brazil, at the time we were getting about 200 to our club games and it was an occasion when you stepped out on the pitch and you were so nervous because you'd never seen so many people before.
"I think for the Olympics a lot of people did just buy tickets to say they went to the Olympics and become part of it and it wasn't necessarily just for women's football. So to think that everybody's going out there wants to support this team is just a massive turning point for the game. As Phil says we do want to enjoy it but I think that will come after the game, after we've put in a performance, because that's the main thing tomorrow for us as a team and for staff and players."
11. NEVILLE COACHING
12. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS TRAINING
13. PLAYERS IN STADIUM
STORY: England women's team manager Phil Neville says the team will be focused on their performance rather than the size of the crowd when they take on Germany at Wembley on Saturday (November 9) in front of a record crowd.
The sold-out crowd in the 90,000-seat stadium is expected to beat the previous record crowd for a women's international in Britain of 80,203 who watched the 2012 London Olympic final between the United States and Japan.
The attendance is also set to exceed the record for an England women's home fixture of 45,619, set in the game against Germany at Wembley in 2014.
Phil Neville's England team finished fourth at this year's women's World Cup in France and almost 12 million people tuned in to watch their 2-1 semi-final defeat by the U.S.
The attendance record for any women's soccer match is 90,185 for the 1999 World Cup final in Pasadena, California in which the U.S. beat China on penalties.
(Production: Gerry Mey/Andy Ragg)
