The manager of England, Sarina Wiegman, has claimed that Lauren James’ reckless stomping on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie during the Round 16 match in the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup on Monday, was due to fatigue rather than malicious intent.
James was given a straight red card for aggressive behavior during the Lioness’ narrow last-16 victory against Super Falcons.
This resulted in Wiegman’s team being reduced to 10 players for the entire duration of extra-time, before winning 4-2 on penalties.
Wiegman defended the Chelsea forward and said it was a “very unfortunate” incident.
“She’s young and this is just a momentary lapse of judgment, she doesn’t want to harm anyone. It’s later on in the game, so you become a little bit fatigued too.
“It’s such an intense and emotional game that in an instant where you just can’t control your emotions, then things happen.
“Of course, she didn’t intend to do that, but before she had even realized it had happened. Very unfortunate. She will absolutely learn from it,” Wiegman stated.
