England manager Sarina Wiegman has a plan to beat Colombia without Lauren James
The Lionesses will be without the 21-year-old forward after she received a straight red card for stamping on an opponent in the win over Nigeria.
England face an impressive Colombia side in the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup but will do so without Lauren James, who was dismissed in their Round-of-16 tie against Nigeria.
James has been one of England’s best performers in the tournament but she received a red card for a moment of madness, stamping on Michelle Alozie out of frustration. The 21-year-old will miss the next two games due to suspension but would be available for selection if England make it to the final.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s quarter-final clash with Colombia manager Sarina Wiegman said that England “know how they want to fill that position” in James’ absence.
“Of course, she is still part of the squad,” Wiegman said in an interview with the BBC.
“[James] gets support from everyone. In a split second, she made a mistake and that cost her two games, and she regretted it straight away,” she continued.
“It’s the end of the game, she is fatigued, she is inexperienced and sometimes things like that happen and that is part of life. The punishment is there, two games.
“Now she needs support from us and to learn from it.”
Colombia out to ‘represent the Americas’ in Australia
With the United States and Brazil tipped among the pre-tournament favourites, few would have predicted that Colombia would be the only nation from the Americas in the final eight of the World Cup.
“To be representing the whole of the Americas is important,” said Colombia head coach Nelson Abadia. “To have all this positive energy not only from Colombia but from the whole continent is beneficial.”
“We need to be chess players and analyse,” said Abadia. “We have analysed England and what our best chances are going to be.
“There are several variables in any match - technical, tactical and physical. What’s important is the strength in the team’s character and that is going to be vital for what we need to do.”
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Colombia beat Germany in the group stage to top their group and progressed past a competitive Jamaica side in the Round-of-16. They have grown in confidence during the tournament and can call upon the extraordinary talents of Linda Caicedo.
The 18-year-old made the move to Real Madrid earlier this year and she has lit up the tournament with Colombia. Her stunning strike against Germany helped Colombia to eliminate the two-time world champions.