Quote Sheet: WNT vs. England - Feb. 13, 2015

U.S. WNT head coach Jill Ellis

On the match:

“This was a challenging match, but I thought we deserved the goal that we got. Later in the game they started to press us, but again, it was good test for us and this game gave us things we need to see in preparation for the World Cup. “ 

On the importance of winning this game after the loss last week:

“Yes, it’s important as far as momentum but I think the players truly understand where we are in the process. We scheduled Brazil, we scheduled France, we scheduled England early in our preparation phase so we’re still building momentum in our fitness and our play. I think playing those teams early is a test for us. It’s important that we remember where our end point is, and where our end product is, and we’re not there yet.”

On what she has learned from the team during the last two matches in Europe:

“When we came off our World Cup qualifiers, we don’t find out as much as we need to. We’ve played some of these types of games closer to the event, but having games scheduled now, it helps as you have young players on the squad that need to be in stressful situations. These are the things that we have to go through and experience now instead to be ready for June.” 

U.S. WNT midfielder Lauren Holiday

On the overall team performance:

“I thought that was a huge step for us. We connected passes, our shape was pretty good and Alex had a great goal. We need to clean some things up, but overall our team performance was a step in the right direction. 

On ball-possession and creating opportunities:

“I think it’s going to come. Obviously the final pass needs to be a little cleaner and when we’re in the final third we need to have a little more patience, but I think it’s going to come and we’ll get our chances.”

On the trip as a whole serving as preparation for the World Cup:

“These were two fantastic games for us to play. France was awesome to play against; it was a learning experience for us and we needed to be exposed in some places just to grow. England the same thing; a great team and we were able to pick them apart and grow from the France game.”

U.S. WNT forward Alex Morgan

On what was learned from the France game heading into the England match:

“It was a long travel day from France to England so we had a lot of time to think about what we could have done better, and how the team can move forward on this journey to the World Cup. I think it was a positive thing for us to see our weaknesses and see where we can work on. We came together and really focused on each other, on being selfless and putting it all out there. It’s been a couple of games since we’ve seen a positive result on the field, so we feel really good finishing this European tour.”

On what’s next on the road to the World Cup:

“We only have about a week off and then we go to Portugal for the Algarve Cup. That will be another test, playing four great teams and hopefully getting to the final, but for us we’re going to take one game at time. Obviously, you saw from these last two games that are going to be tested with every team in the World Cup. These are great teams that we’re playing pretty early before the World Cup to prepare ourselves and see the steps we need in order to get to the level we want to be at for the World Cup.”

U.S. WNT forward Christen Press

On the match:

“This match was a huge step forward for us. Coming back after a tough loss is not easy. So for us to come out and put in a good performance, play as a team and work for each other was huge. We have a big tournament ahead of us at the Algarve Cup so we have to get better every game and I think we did that today.”

On the European tour:

“These games were great learning opportunities for us. Of course, there is a lot of evaluation being done on our squad right now. Not just from within, but other teams are looking at us, the media is looking at us, so there’s a lot of evaluation going on, but it’s important for us to take these games in stride and realize that we are learning and getting better and come this summer, we have to peak.”