England Through to Quarterfinals Despite Red Card for Lauren James
England is thru to the quarterfinals of the World Cup and that might 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 based on plan, that was sufficient. The different questions — vital questions — can anticipate a day.
After a quick gasp when Georgia Stanway opened the penalty kick shootout by lacking the primary try, England’s victory was delivered briefly order: Beth England, Rachel Daly, Alex Greenwood and Chloe Kelly hammered residence their efforts in fast succession and Nigeria, which missed two of its 4, was crushed.
The questions, although, will observe 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 targets in 4 video games — one towards Denmark after which two towards China — as her staff constructed momentum and expectations within the group stage.
But within the 87th minute towards Nigeria, she threw her event 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 provide a crimson card. James was off, and England was all the way down to 10 gamers simply as the sport went to further time.
When may she be again? That is unclear. The crimson card would imply a one-game suspension. But because it was for violent conduct, FIFA will overview the incident and will select to increase her ban.
“It was a split second,” Wiegman mentioned of James’s crimson card. “She’s an inexperienced player on this stage and she’s done really well. And I think in a split second, she just sort of lost her emotions.”
On a staff already weakened by accidents, the ejection of James may very well be a game-changer, particularly after one other precious midfielder, Keira Walsh, was subbed off after 120 minutes when she appeared to maintain an harm.
Her presence on the sector 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 event. But she solely missed one sport, towards China, after which returned to the beginning lineup on Monday.
Now she is limping once more, and her health — similar to James’s suspension — will dangle over England because it prepares for a quarterfinal towards 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.
