England manager, Sarina Wiegman, has claimed that Lauren James’ reckless stamp on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie was due to tiredness rather than malice.
James was shown a straight red card for violent conduct during the Lioness’ narrow last-16 victory.
This meant Wiegman’s team was reduced to 10 players for the entirety of extra-time, before winning 4-2 on penalties.
Wiegman has defended the Chelsea forward and says it was a “very unfortunate” incident.
“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 realised it had happened. Very unfortunate. She will absolutely learn from it,” Wiegman said.