England Beats Nigeria in Penalty Shootout but Loses Lauren James to Red Card
England is thru to the quarterfinals of the World Cup and that will probably be all that issues for now. Four of its penalty kicks went in and two of Nigeria’s didn’t, and on an evening when not a lot went in line with plan, that was sufficient. The different questions — vital questions — can look ahead to a day.
After a quick gasp when Georgia Stanway opened the penalty kick shootout by lacking the primary try, England’s victory was delivered in brief order: Beth England, Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood and Chloe Kelly hammered house their efforts in fast succession and Nigeria, which missed two of its 4, was crushed.
The questions, although, will comply with Sarina Wiegman’s England into the quarterfinals later this week. Prime amongst them: What, precisely, was Lauren James pondering?
James, 21, had been a revelation for England at her first World Cup, scoring three objectives in 4 video games — one in opposition to Denmark after which two in opposition to China — as her crew constructed momentum and expectations within the group stage.
But within the 87th minute in opposition to Nigeria, she threw her match into jeopardy with a shocking lack of composure: Fouled close to the sideline, James responded with a shove to the again of her fallen opponent, Michelle Alozie, after which, inexplicably, a stamp on Alozie’s again as she jogged away.
The motion was flagged for the Honduran referee, Melissa Borjas, by the video assistant referee. Borjas jogged over to see a replay on the sideline monitor and returned to supply a crimson card. James was off, and England was all the way down to 10 gamers simply as the sport went to additional time.
When would possibly she be again? That is unclear. The crimson card would imply a one-game suspension. But because it was for violent conduct, FIFA will evaluate the incident and will select to increase her ban.
On a crew already weakened by accidents, her ejection could possibly be a game-changer, particularly after one other beneficial midfielder, Keira Walsh, was subbed off after 120 minutes when she appeared to maintain an harm.
Her presence on the sphere at that second had drawn questions by itself: Walsh had injured a knee early within the group stage, so significantly that it was initially feared she would miss the remainder of the match. But she solely missed one sport, in opposition to China, after which returned to the beginning lineup on Monday.
Now she is limping once more, and her health — identical to James’s suspension — will grasp over England because it prepares for a quarterfinal in opposition to the Colombia-Jamaica winner on Saturday.
But that, and the opposite questions, can wait. For now England is alive, and that’s all that issues.
