Phil Neville stressed he was "not disrespecting anyone" as he sought to explain why he branded the Women's World Cup third-place play-off that England lost to Sweden "a nonsense game".
The Lionesses missed out on bronze after being beaten 2-1 at Nice's Allianz Riviera, where Sweden raced into a 2-0 lead through goals from Kosovare Asllani in the 11th minute and Sofia Jakobsson in the 22nd.
England replied through Fran Kirby just after the half-hour mark and thought they had equalised two minutes later, only for Ellen White's finish to be ruled out for handball following a VAR review.
Sweden boss Peter Gerhardsson, whose side went into the contest on the back of a 1-0 extra-time loss to Holland, declined to comment on Neville's "nonsense game" remark, but insisted there was a "huge difference" between finishing third and fourth.
"I have no comment at all as to what other coaches think abut the whole thing. That's up to them. If that's his opinion, that's what it is," he said.
"To us, this was a very important game. It's a huge difference between winning a bronze medal and ending up fourth.
"It's more about the way we won this match. There were so many good performances."
