Mark Sampson has challenged his England Women’s side to find their own way of toppling the best teams in the world.
The Lionesses landed in Philadelphia on Saturday night to begin their preparations for the second annual SheBelieves Cup.
Steph Houghton et al. will take on the top three teams in the FIFA rankings, World Cup holders USA, European and Olympic champions Germany and France – and the latter two will be among the opponents at Euro 2017 in the summer.
England faced the same three sides at last year’s tournament, narrowly losing two matches and drawing one.
Sampson said: “It’s great to play two genuine Euro 2017 contenders. We can assess where we are at and also where they are at.
“It’s about being the team we want to be in the summer.
“We have to find a way to get over the line.
“We’re fed up of playing well against the top sides and failing to get a result.
“We have to find our way to win so this tournament gives us a chance to pick up some real key learnings.
“They are three great games for us, under tournament conditions as well.”
Under Sampson’s tutelage, England finished third at the 2015 World Cup in Canada and subsequently rose to an all-time high of fourth in the FIFA rankings.
They qualified unbeaten for that World Cup and Euro 2017, and the head coach was full praise for the way his players have improved during his three years in charge.
Sampson added: “The group’s work ethic and appetite to improve is growing all the time.
“They are starting to get the desire we need every player to have to always want to get better.
“We have made it clear we want to be the best in the world and over the last six months in particular I’ve been pleased with how the team has progressed, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
