James Sees Red Card as England Labour pass Nigeria in Round of 16
A below-par England survived 120 minutes of Nigeria dominance to reach the World Cup quarter-finals, winning 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw, despite Lauren James’ petulant red card.
It was another game where the lesser-deserving team made it into the last eight on penalties, almost a carbon copy of the USA’s exit to Sweden.
After the delight of seeing Keira Walsh return to the XI following her knee injury, Sarina Wiegman stuck with a 3-5-2 that did so well against China. However, England reverted back to the laboured performances of the opening two group games, as Nigeria registered 20 shots to England’s 12.
The game got worse for them too as James (87) was sent off late in normal time after a frustrated and avoidable stamp on the back of Michelle Alozie.
It was reminiscent of David Beckham and Wayne Rooney at the 1998 and 2006 World Cups respectively – the young star lashing out and being penalised. She will now miss the quarter-final, and perhaps more if FIFA decides to punish her further.
Wiegman said the 21-year-old James’ sending off: “In a split-second, she just lost her emotions. And, of course, she does not want to hurt anyone. She is the sweetest person I know.
“Yet then things happen like that and you cannot change it any more. So it is a huge lesson for her to learn, but it is not something that she really did on purpose.”
But somehow, England rode the wave of Nigeria pressure to take the game all the way to penalties. The shootout began with a Georgia Stanway miss, but this was followed by two further misses from the Super Falcons to hand the Lionesses control.
England did not let the advantage slip either, scoring the remainder of their spot kicks – the decisive penalty taken by Euro 2022 winning goalscorer Chloe Kelly – and booking a quarter-final spot, where they will face either Jamaica or Colombia.
