Phil Neville has had this first week in July circled in his diary ever since he took the England job 18 months ago.
The 42-year-old was appointed head coach in January 2018 and he safely guided the Lionesses through their final five World Cup qualifiers.
His squad of 23 players have taken France by storm, easing through their group with maximum points before powering past both Cameroon and Norway in the knockout stages.
England are now shaping up to take on holders USA in the semi-final in Lyon on Tuesday night.
Neville said: “I would say it’s the week I’ve prepared for, the week I had planned for, the week that, when I was given the job by The FA, the vision was to get to this point and then deliver.
“And for the last three months, I’ve wanted to forward-wind my life to this point.”
England, ranked third in the world, go into the last-four clash as underdogs against a side they have only beaten four times since their first meeting in 1985.
Jill Ellis’s star-studded side have won three World Cups and four Olympic golds, and they have lost just one match out of 12 so far in 2019.
But Neville believes Tuesday’s semi-final will be a game of fine margins.
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He said: “They [USA] do power plays, where they come out of the traps and for the first 15 minutes they’ll try to overpower you with their physicality. We are aware of that.
“There are not many vulnerabilities in the USA but at this stage, with the four best teams in the world, you are talking about 0.5 or one per cent extra where you think you’ll gain an advantage.
“You focus on yourself and not what they can do because if we get our game-plan right – tactically, physically – and our players are playing at the top of their game with confidence and belief, then we have a good chance of winning this football match. But we have to match and better them.”
England and USA drew 2-2 at the SheBelieves Cup in March, only the second-ever draw between the sides, with the Lionesses eventually going on to win the trophy for the first time.
Goals by Steph Houghton and Nikita Parris put Neville’s charges ahead after Megan Rapinoe had volleyed the hosts into the lead.
Tobin Heath rescued a point for the Stars and Stripes when England failed to clear their lines from a corner.
Neville added: “The March game was a good game for both teams. We played really well and that game gave us great confidence and belief.
“We were the ones that stood on that platform and lifted that trophy. When you win something, it gives you the taste of it and this time the prize is even bigger.”
With 11 goals and four clean sheets from five matches, England are in fine fettle ahead of their second successive World Cup semi-final, while five-goal Ellen White is vying with USA star Alex Morgan for the Golden Boot.
And Neville is delighted with how his whole squad have performed so far this summer.
He said: “Against Norway we just focused on our play and being ruthless in the final third. Our concentration levels were probably the best they have been in the competition.
“Having a settled back four has helped. The work that everyone is doing in front is really good as well.
“Clean sheets, as we know, win you tournaments and if we keep another two clean sheets we will be World Cup winners.”
Neville added: “Nobody cares who loses a semi-final, it's all about winning.
“No-one cares about silver and bronze - it's the gold medal everyone wants.
“My players now want to win. If we don't get the right result, we'll feel the disappointment and we'll see that as a failure.
“That's not me being negative, that's just our expectations, our belief and our confidence.”
