DAVID BECKHAM reckons Phil Neville was always going to beat brother Gary in the race to become real managerial material.
Becks was in New Jersey on Sunday to watch old pal Phil take charge of his second England women’s game in the SheBelieves Cup.
The former England skipper saw Ellen White’s double cancel out two sloppy goals which were handed to the Germans in an otherwise impressive performance from Nev’s Lionesses.
Many people didn’t give Neville a chance after he replaced Mark Sampson in a shock appointment in January.
But Becks never had any doubt – and that was reinforced at the end of an eventful 2-2 draw against the team ranked No2 in the world.
He said: ”To be honest out of Phil and Gary, I always expected Phil to go into coaching.
Hope Harper likes her #Lionesses shirt 
“Both of them were very intelligent in every way, on and off the field but I am not surprised to see Phil in the role and I think he is enjoying it.
“It is good for the girls to have some who is so experienced and who has won everything in the game.
ALL WHITE TWO NIGHT Germany 2 England 2: Phil Neville’s Lionesses held in SheBelieves Cup in front of David Beckham
“The team is in good hands with him. His experience will give them a lot of opportunity to push on.
“Having someone with his experience, who has played for the clubs he has played in, playing with the players he has played with and obviously working under the manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, and all the experience he got from those years there. It is great for the girls.”
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Beckham, who gave the squad a pep-talk before going into battle against the Germans, saw first hand the way the women’s team has grown in stature.
He added: ”It is really encouraging the way the game is growing. I played in the United States for six years and have seen how the game is received here.
“It is great to see the profile now and the money that is being invested. It is important to have that grounding again.”
England finish their campaign here against the United States in Orlando in the early hours of Thursday morning and have a great chance of winning the tournament for the very first time.
Neville said: “We’re going to treat this as a dummy World Cup final.
“First versus third best team in the world. This could happen in 12 months when we get to France for the World Cup.
“ I can just feel the confidence and belief building and our team.”
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