US Star Megan Rapinoe Claims England 'Are Not As Good As Phil Neville Thinks They Are'

But the US women's team were heavily criticised after co-captain Alex Morgan did her tea-drinking celebration.

And Rapinoe, who was the Golden Boot winner for the tournament, also took a cheeky swipe at England manager Neville.

The Ballon d'Or winner said: "I was injured for the semi-final against England. It was Alex's 30th birthday, she was feeling pretty jaunty.

"After her goal she raised her pinkie in a gesture to imitate drinking tea. It was epic. To tease the English is such a pleasure, they react immediately and get completely outraged.

"It sparked a whole new level of rivalry with Phil Neville's team, who are good, although not as good as Neville thinks they are. We won 2-1, and they were out."

The American star told BBC Sport: "There was lots of talk about arrogance, celebrating too much, but this is what you want.

"These are the goals you want and this team is giving it to you -- it's defiance but it's cheeky.

"I feel like we're going to have fun. We have a very serious role to play so it is kind of a balance of that.

"We have always done this -- we have done cartwheels, sang into microphones, made snow angels when we played in the snow.

"The next-level trolling with the tea [by Alex Morgan] is so funny. It's so funny because you English are so uptight sometimes. It was just so perfect, you know?"

The US would secure their record fourth World Cup title with a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais.