England captain Steph Houghton hails Heather Watson's Wimbledon performance

Steph Houghton, the captain of the England Women's football team, has said that compatriot Heather Watson should be "proud" of her display against Serena Williams at Wimbledon yesterday.

Watson came within two points of beating the world number one last night on Centre Court, in the end going down 7-5 in the third set.

Houghton revealed that the Lionesses watched Watson in Canada, where they are preparing for tonight's World Cup third-place playoff against Germany after going out to Japan with a cruel injury-time own goal on Wednesday.

"[Watson] was very unlucky but she should be proud of the performance she gave against a world-class tennis player," Houghton told PA.

"To be able to play at Wimbledon in such a high-pressure environment and to go up against the world's best in Serena Williams, it's great that she pushed her all the way, and was so close.

"She should be proud and it's great for women's sport that we're getting so much coverage these days."

Laura Bassett recently gave her first interview since scoring the own goal to knock England out, saying that she wishes nobody knew her name.