England forward Lauren James has been sent off in the last-16 tie with Nigeria at the Women's World Cup 2023 for standing on a prone player's back.
With the score at 0-0 heading into the closing stages of the 90 minutes, James received the ball from a long pass by Millie Bright. As she tried dribbling past Michelle Alozie, the Nigerian defender tackled her before falling to the floor.
Frustrated, James attempted to clamber over Alozie on the deck, but not before petulantly stamping on her back while doing so at the Women's World Cup.
LAUREN JAMES HAS BEEN SENT OFF FOR ENGLAND!#FIFAWWC #ENG #NGA #Lionesses pic.twitter.com/RVkRj33NEFAugust 7, 2023
Initially Honduran referee Melissa Borjas issued James with a yellow card, the first of the game. However, following a VAR review, Borjas overturned her original decision and brandished James with a red card, meaning England went down to 10 players.
As a result, England manager Sarina Wiegman decided to bring on Chloe Kelly for Alessia Russo, shuffling the pack for some fresh legs and a slight change in formation. Five players remained at the back, but Kelly joined Hemp up front, with Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway in midfield.
James' sending off means that she will miss at least the next game, should England progress to the quarter-finals. Unlike in English football, a red card for violent conduct is not an automatic three-match ban for Lauren James at the Women's World Cup.
FIFA will review that, though, so there is potential she misses the rest of the tournament, should FIFA deem the red card to be violent conduct. There is precedent earlier in the tournament of this happening, too, with FIFA upping Nigeria's Deborah Abiodun red card against Canada to three games.
The Chelsea forward had impressed in the opening three games prior to her sending off, scoring three goals and assisting a further three times for her team-mates.
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Alex Greenwood has told FFT that she believes the development in the Lionesses recently is more mentality-focused than ability-based, while Christine Sinclair has spoken of her longevity. Intriguingly, Canada women’s head coach comes from a small town in County Durham – just like the men's – and FFT met Bev Priestman ahead of the tournament.
