Lauren James’ wonder strike seals England’s place in last 16

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01st Aug, 2023. 08:08 pm
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Lauren James led her team to a dominant 6-1 victory against China.
James scored two goals and assisted three others.
Sarina Wiegman tactfully redirected the focus from James.

England’s Lauren James led her team to a dominant 6-1 victory against China, securing their spot in the last 16 of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

James excelled with two goals and three assists, narrowly missing out on a remarkable hat-trick due to a VAR review.

“Again, another day of what dreams are made of,” James said as she left the field. “I’m happy for the team and everyone’s buzzing. And yeah, we’re looking forward to going into the next round.”

The 21-year-old player had set up Alessia Russo and Lauren Hemp for goals before scoring one herself to put the score at 3-0 as halftime was nearing. She believed she had scored a fourth goal with an excellent shot into the top corner. However, after a VAR review, it was determined that Lucy Bronze was in an offside position during the build-up, and the goal was disallowed.

“Yeah, I was disappointed in the moment obviously, but that’s football for you, and in the moment I just had to refocus for the game to continue,” James told a press conference.

Unfazed by the previous disallowed goal, she scored again in the 65th minute and assisted Chloe Kelly to secure England’s fifth goal, leading them to a convincing victory in the group stage with three wins. This achievement allowed them to finish at the top of Group D and paved the way for a last-16 match against Nigeria in Brisbane on Monday.

“I think I’m just playing with freedom, feeling myself and just enjoying my football. I think tonight showed that, and so did the last game, and hopefully I can just continue doing that and take it into the next round,” James added.

As expected, England coach Sarina Wiegman tactfully redirected the focus from James’ outstanding individual skills to the overall team performance.

“I think you could see it from the whole team, that we were enjoying ourselves, you could tell that we were really connected,” Wiegman told reporters.

“The ball was going around and we had different ways to go and attack, and LJ was one of them, and when she scored you could also tell that the whole team was enjoying that.”

Wiegman introduced several tactical and personnel adjustments for the final group match, yet she refuted the notion that these changes would make it challenging for Nigeria or any other teams they might encounter in the tournament to figure them out.

“That’s a part of the game – every team has an analysis team, and they will watch the games and predict how we are going to play, and that’s the same for us,” she said.

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Lauren James’ wonder strike seals England’s place in last 16

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