2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup – Lauren James Wonder Goal Brings England Closer To Round 16 As Sarina Wiegman Faces Anxious Wait Over Keira Walsh’s Knee Injury
Written by Olaleye Oluwadamilola
England have moved to the verge of qualifying for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup knockout stages as Lauren James first World Cup goal inspired them to a deserved victory of Denmark, but Sarina Wiegman faces anxious wait over Keira Walsh’s nasty knee injury.
More Details
England made it two wins from two at the FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC), but they were again made to work hard for victory, scraping past Denmark 1-0 to stretch the Dane’s losing run in Women World Cup matches against fellow UEFA representatives to four matches.
After four games without a goal from open play, Wiegman made the bold decision of changing her starting XI with the introduction of Lauren James who is making her first World Cup appearance and Rachel Daly from the team that beat Haiti and it was indeed rewarding after Lauren James connected to Rachel Daly’s low cross to give England the lead.
Despite being so comfortable and dominant in the game, England’s narrow lead was certainly concerning. And those concerns were almost realised when Denmark’s talismanic forward Pernille Harder was afforded a yard of space in the area, but fortunately for the Lionesses, her effort was easily gathered by Mary Earps.
It wasn’t all good news in the first half for England though, Barcelona’s midfielder, Keira Walsh who is England’s most important player was taken off the pitch on a stretcher towards the end of the first half after a nasty knee injury, one Weigman will hope isn’t tournament ending.
Although it was another less-than convincing performance, three points was the ultimate prize here for England, who will be keen to point out they’re aiming to peak at the right time in this tournament. The Lionesses’ now have one foot in the last-16, and their progression could be secured later today pending the outcome of China’s clash with Haiti.
Denmark’s quest for a knockout spot will rumble on to the final day, but they remain in the driving seat to claim the second qualification spot in Group D.
Meanwhile…
Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall has suggested that Keira Walsh’s knee injury may have been caused by the pitch being ‘too dry’ as he slammed the surface in Sydney at the Women’s World Cup.
The Barcelona midfielder was left in tears as she was taken off on a stretcher during the first half of England’s game against Denmark and was replaced in the 38th minute by Laura Coombs, leaving the field after mouthing “I’ve done my knee” on television to the team’s medical department.
Read Also – Women’s World Cup: Can New Zealand Move Out Of Group Stage For The First Time?
“The pitch looks very dry and you can see on the movement, when she slides with the right foot that it stops and she then twists her knee,” Eidevall discussed the injury at half-time, blasting the surface in Sydney.
“I think an example of that was the celebrations on the first goal that Lauren James scored. She tries to knee slide but you can see, when she does that you can see she just stops and falls over.”
“It looks funny but it’s actually a danger to player welfare to have such a dry pitch because it should allow you to slide through. That’s not good enough,” he finalized.
The Lionesses have suffered yet another blow at the World Cup, but will be hoping to come through the setback to reach the latter stages of the tournament.
Kindly Email: keepup@bettitude.com
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube
About Author
