London: An attempt by England's governing Football Association to tweet its praise for their bronze medal-winning team at the Women's World Cup backfired on Monday after it said the Lionesses could now "go back to being mothers, partners and daughters".

Monday's post was soon deleted after criticism it was patronising to a group of players who had just achieved England's best finish at a Women's World Cup. Mark Sampson's team beat top-ranked Germany for the first time with a 1-0 third-place play-off win on Saturday, and many of the Lionesses are set to feature in the English Women's Super League as soon as Saturday.