Soccer-Hege Riise to take temporary charge of England women - reports

LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Norwegian Hege Riise is to take over as interim coach of the England women's team after Phil Neville stood down to take over at Inter Miami men, Sky Sports said on Tuesday.

Should Riise be confirmed as England coach, the move would bring one of the great pioneers of the game to the Lionesses.

Norwegian side LSK Kvinner told local media that Riise was a candidate to replace former Manchester United player Neville, who spent three years in charge of the national team.

"England is interested and I've been aware of that for a while," Anders Melheim, chairman of the board, told Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang.

Part of a Norway team that was a global powerhouse in the 90s and early 2000s, Riise won the UEFA Women's Championship in 1993, the World Cup in 1995 and a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics during an international career that included 188 caps.

Her club career brought her from the Norwegian league to the Carolina Courage in the United States before returning home again, where she retired at the age of 37.

At LSK Kvinner she has been instrumental in bringing through a superb generation of young Norwegian players such as Chelsea's Guro Reiten and VfL Wolfsburg's Ingrid Syrstad Engen. She was in France to see Neville's side beat the Norwegians 3-0 in the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup.

However, England's form has slumped in recent times and the temporary appointment of Riise, ahead of Dutch coach Sarina Wiegman taking over full time after the Tokyo Olympics, will go a long way to steadying the ship for the Lionesses. (Reporting by Phil O'Connor Editing by Christian Radnedge)