England survived the lack of Lauren James to a purple card, 120 minutes of strain from Nigeria, and a penalty shootout in its final 16 victory on Monday, in a recreation coach Sarina Wiegman mentioned was probably the most “intense” she had skilled.
England was on the again foot for a lot of the recreation, particularly after James, its prime scorer this match with three objectives was despatched off within the 87th minute for a stamp on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie.
“I just know I’m 10 years older,” Wiegman, 53, informed reporters. “I haven’t been in very many games that were so intense as this one tonight.”
Manchester City ahead Chloe Kelly, additionally the hero with an extra-time purpose in England’s Euro 2022 closing win over Germany, scored the decisive penalty in a 4-2 shootout victory.
“I’ve never experienced so many problems,” Wiegman mentioned. “But of course, it’s my job to think of things that can happen in a game or in a tournament or ahead of the tournament.
ALSO READ | FIFA Women’s World Cup: Nigeria an inspiration for women’s football in Africa, says coach
“You try to turn every stone and then try to already think of solutions for when things happen. And – well – today we got totally tested on those stones.”
James will miss Saturday’s quarter-final in opposition to both Colombia or Jamaica and relying on a FIFA disciplinary evaluate, might miss the remainder of the match in what could be a large blow to England’s World Cup desires.
“It was a split second,” Wiegman mentioned of James’ expensive misstep. “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.”
The slim victory got here regardless of the actual fact England – unbeaten in 36 of their final 37 video games – are ranked 36 locations larger than Nigeria. Wiegman has spoken earlier than in regards to the terrific parity on this expanded 32-team World Cup that has been stuffed with upsets.
For lengthy stretches on Monday, it appeared just like the Lionesses could be the subsequent top-10 casualty of the match.
ALSO READ | FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023: England advances over Nigeria on penalty kicks regardless of James’ purple card
“We were not under-estimating them at all and they showed tonight what a good team they have,” Wiegman mentioned of the Super Falcons. “They were very well organised, very physical, very athletic, and they pressed a little higher.
“Nothing is easy in this tournament. And that’s very exciting too because we see the women’s game has improved so much. You saw in the group stage, many games were equal, and it’s not that the expected teams have won all the time.”
Wiegman praised her gamers for bouncing again shortly from the purple card and withstanding a Nigerian onslaught within the dying minutes.
“We’ve had many setbacks … as soon it looked like Lauren James was sent off, straight away had to reorganise,” she mentioned. “The conviction to keep the nil and get out of their press, that was just incredible.
“The players got really, really tired but we really stuck together, showed a lot of resilience. You’re so tired and then you go into a penalty shootout and do so well I think is really incredible.”
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com