Spygate is back, only š¼this time in a ź¦different kind of football.
England soccer coach Phil Neville accused the US women’s national team of breaking “etiquette” after it sent two officials to scout out his team’s hotel for a potential stay before the two sides meet in Tuesday’s World Cup semifinal match.
The English team was out practicingź¦ Sunday when two members of the US staff were shown around their hotel, the five-star Fourviere Hotź©µel in Lyon, France. According to multiple reports, the officials were not wearing USWNT apparel.
The visit apparently did not sit well with Nevišš²lle.
āItās not sš„āomething I would want my teamās operations doing. England would not do it,ā Neville told reporters, āI am happy with our hotel and we were training. I hope they enjoyed our hotel. It is not something we would do, send somebody round, but it is their problem.
āJill Ellis wouldnāt have been happy and nor would I have been and I amā± sure she will be dealing with that infrastructure within her discipline.ā
Butš½ Ellis, the USWNT ācoach, did not seem to have an issue with the visit.
āI would assume everybody is doing that,ā she said. āYou have to plan ahead. The only ones whoź¦ went were the team administrator and her boss. We donāt worry about that. Thatās who the two were.ā
It is š¦¹not clear what intel the USWNT officials could have scooped up from a visit to the hotel, though Nevilšøle appeared to have a problem with the gamesmanship of it all.
āItāll have no bearing on the game. To be honest I found it funny,ā Neville said. āI thought: āWhat are they doing?ā It is not etiquette. Itās not something I would allow fš§rom our organization.ā