England faced the biggest test of the Women's World Cup when they took on Nigeria in the first round of the knockout stage at Lang Park in Brisbane.
They survived a scare in the 87th minute when they had to play with 10 players through the rest of regular time and the entirety of extra time when Lauren James was ejected from the match for a stamp on the back of Nigeria player Michelle Alozie.
The match was scoreless for 120 straight minutes, and Chloe Kelly, who scored the penalty shootout winner in the Finalissima against Brazil and the winner in the Euro 2022 final against Germany, ended the game in penalty kicks as England came out on top in the shootout 4-2.
Nigeria missed their first two kicks, as Désiré Oparanozie and Alozie missed wide left and too high. Oparanozie's kick looked like a mirror image of Georgia Stanway's kick in the first round of the shootout.
Then Bethany England, Rachel Daly, and Alex Greenwood gave the Lionesses the advantage, with Kelly being England's heroine once again, beating out goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie.
Nigeria gave English goalkeeper Mary Earps a busy night, and she stood tall with several good saves in front of a crowd of 49,461. She stopped two shots within seconds of each other 16 minutes into the contest, the first on a rocket from Ashleigh Plumptre 25 yards out that went off her hand and off the crossbar, followed up by a diving save to the right on a shot from the box from Plumptre.
The Super Falcons put up 20 shots, constantly threatening to score, especially during the time where the Lionesses were without James.
England had several good looks of their own, including one off a bad turnover from Oluwatosin Demehin on a failed clear past the halfway mark of the first half, and Alessia Russo was close to putting the Lionesses on the board, but Nnadozie jumped left for the save with her hands.
The biggest of challenges came at the 76th minute, when Nnadozie was challenged twice by England following a corner kick, both of them from headers, one from Daly and the other from Russo.
Daly had another opportunity on a setup to the box off the centering feed from Stanway, but her kick with the shin had the ball sailing wide left.
The Lionesses seemed to have been awarded a penalty kick at the 33rd minute of play after what appeared to be a push from Rasheedat Ajibade on Daly, but it was overturned after VAR review.
Much of the talk for England will be how they will fare on the possibility of losing James for the remainder of the tournament after getting tossed from the match despite the return of Keira Walsh from injury.
With both players on the floor, James got up first and she appeared to deliberately step on Alozie's back when she was walking over her. There, Alozie demanded the referee for disciplinary action, though James initially was shown the yellow card.
Alozie's demand initiated a VAR review, getting referee Melissa Borjas to the monitor on the sideline. The key was if there was any intent on James' part, even if it was just a bit of physicality.
Nigeria was well prepared for England and their attack, frustrating James throughout the match as the contest went on.
A red card marks an automatic one-game suspension for the next match, but FIFA has the power to increase the punishment depending on the incident.
Should the stamp be deemed as a serious case of foul play, James could be lost for the rest of the World Cup, and given that there was deliberate intent, that seems likely, meaning James would not only miss the quarterfinals, but also the semifinals and either the final or third place game.
FIFA has previously exercised that power when they banned Nigeria's Debora Abiodun for three games when she was ejected for a dangerous tackle in stoppage time during their 0-0 draw against Canada in the group stage.
But what is for certain is that they will be without James in the quarterfinals when they travel to Stadium Australia in Sydney to face either Colombia or Jamaica, who take on each other on August 8th at 4:00 AM EDT. FS1 will televise the game for American viewers, and TSN for Canadian viewers.
Scoring
None
Penalty Shootout
Round | Team | Shooter | Goal? | Description | Score |
1 | England | Georgia Stanway | No | Right foot shot is close, but misses to the left | 0-0 Tie |
1 | Nigeria | Désiré Oparanozie | No | Right foot shot is close, but misses to the left | 0-0 Tie |
2 | England | Bethany England | Yes | Right foot shot to high center of the goal | 1-0 England |
2 | Nigeria | Michelle Alozie | No | Left foot shot is too high | 1-0 England |
3 | England | Rachel Daly | Yes | Right foot shot to top left corner | 2-0 England |
3 | Nigeria | Rasheedat Ajibade | Yes | Right foot shot to center of the goal | 2-1 England |
4 | England | Alex Greenwood | Yes | Left foot shot to bottom right corner | 3-1 England |
4 | Nigeria | Christy Ucheibe | Yes | Right foot shot to top right corner | 3-2 England |
5 | England | Chloe Kelly | Yes | Right foot shot to top left corner | 4-2 England |
Substitutions
Nigeria, 58': Asisat Oshoala replaces Ifeoma Onumonu.
Nigeria, 81': Francisca Ordega replaces Uchenna Kanu.
England, 88': Chloe Kelly replaces Alessia Russo.
Nigeria, 90': Onyi Echegini replaces Halimatu Ayinde.
England, 105': Bethany England replaces Lauren Hemp.
Nigeria, 114': Désiré Oparanozie replaces Toni Payne.
England, 120': Katie Zelem replaces Keira Walsh because of an injury.
Disciplinary
England, 87': Lauren James is shown the red card for violent conduct.
Team Stats
Possession: England 56% advantage
Shots: England 12, Nigeria 20
On Target: England 4, Nigeria 2
Fouls: England 6, Nigeria 14
Yellow Cards: England 0, Nigeria 0
Red Cards, England 1, Nigeria 0
Offsides: England 1, Nigeria 1
Corner Kicks: England 6, Nigeria 5
Saves: England 2, Nigeria 4
Miscellaneous
Venue: Lang Park (Brisbane Football Stadium/Suncorp Stadium)
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Attendance: 49,461 (Capacity: 52,500)
Referee: Melissa Borjas (Honduras)
Commentaires