Sarina Wiegman, the manager of England, said that Lauren James’ careless stomp on Michelle Alozie of Nigeria was due to tiredness rather than malice.
James received a straight red card for acting violently during the final stages of Lioness’s victory in the round of 16.
Due to this, Wiegman’s squad played with just 10 men for the whole of extra time before winning 4-2 on penalties.
The Chelsea attacker has been supported by Wiegman, who calls it a “very unfortunate” occurrence.
“She’s young and this is just a split second, she doesn’t want to harm anyone. It’s later on in the game, so you get a little bit tired too.
“It’s such an intense and emotional game that in a split second where you just don’t control your emotions, then things happen.
“Of course, she didn’t want to do that, but before she’d even realized it had happened. Very unfortunate. She will absolutely learn from it,” Wiegman said.
