England women's football, there will be more Lauren James in the future
The England women's football team finally waited for the return of Lauren James, but did not wait for victory.
21-year-old Lauren James, the sister of England international and Chelsea men's captain Reece James, shined in this Women's World Cup, but she was also criticized by the world...
Lauren James rubbed shoulders with the World Cup winner.
Lauren received a red card for stepping on his opponent in the 1/8 final, and then was suspended for two additional games, all very much like David Beckham at the 1998 World Cup.
But the dominant performance in the face of the Chinese women's football team also made Chinese fans firmly remember this black girl.
Looking back on her upbringing, Lauren's success is inseparable from the help of her father and brother, and thanks to the rapid development of the English Women's Football League in recent years.
Against the Chinese women's team, Lauren James scored from a wonderful long-range goal.
Red and black
In the group stage against the Chinese women's football team, Lauren James, wearing the No. 7 shirt of the English women's team, can be described as a shock.
In the match, she delivered a perfect answer with two goals and three assists, participating in five of England's six goals. She also had a goal that was disallowed because her teammate was offside or the young striker would have scored her first World Cup hat-trick of her career.
In the post-match rating, Lauren scored 10 points for her excellent performance, and her excellence is not only in this game.
Lauren James scored with a volley in the box to face the Chinese women's team.
In the three group games of this Women's World Cup, Lauren James scored a total of three goals. If you combine goals and assists, 3 goals and 3 assists produce 6 goals, which is also the highest in the group stage of the World Cup.
England women's head coach Wigman praised the youngster's "ease"; Emma Hayes, the manager of Chelsea Women's football team played for by Lauren, said she played "world-class performance".
Lauren's threat on the field also impressed the Chinese women's football players who played against her - "(Lauren James) is an international star, it is difficult to deal with, and there have been matches in the Champions League, and European players can't do anything with her." Chinese women's football midfielder Yang Lina said.
Lauren James blasted out from outside the box, but the goal was cancelled because Blonzer was offside.
But just one game later, Lauren James instantly "fell into hell".
In the 85th minute of the 1/8 final against Nigeria Women's Football Team, Lauren James left the court for maliciously stepping on Nigerian player Michelle Alozi and was suspended for two games after the match.
With the whole game closely guarded and the team having difficulty opening the situation, Lauren lost his mind...
Lauren deliberately stepped on Nigerian players.
As England's legend Lineker put it, Lauren's foul was a "Beckham-esque moment of madness" — Beckham also kicked Simeone in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup in France, a red card that left him infamous for years.
Lauren's red card drew so much criticism and even racist and humiliating attacks that Lauren and her family had to disable comments on social media.
"On the World Cup stage, Lauren is an inexperienced player." Teammate Jesse Carter wants to be more tolerant, "She still has a lot to learn, she learned her lesson and will do better next time." ”
Every tournament, England always has key players who take red cards.
A football family
Indeed, in the England women's national team, Lauren James' seniority is not very deep, and she will only make her national team debut in 2022. At the beginning of her emergence, she was described more as "Reece James' sister".
Reece James is the main right-back of the England team and the captain of the Chelsea men's team, and Lauren James plays for the Chelsea women's team, the two are a rare "brother-sister combination" in football, and it is also the first time in English football that both brothers and sisters play for the national team.
And with Lauren's flash in the World Cup, among England fans, her sister has a tendency to outpace her brother.
For example, in the match between the Chinese women's football team and the English women's football team, there was an interesting episode in the audience - an English fan held a sign that read: "Lauren James is better than Reece James".
Fans put up slogans.
Lauren James was born in London in September 2001 to a father of Grenadian and Dominican ancestry and a football coaching license issued by UEFA.
As a young man, James Sr. played in the lower leagues of England and also tried out at Southampton, and after his career stalled, he set up a football training institute to transform into training for young players aged 5-18.
It was his father's coaching status that exposed the James family's children to football from an early age. In addition to Reese, Lauren's other older brother, Joshua, also plays football.
Looking back on his journey, Lauren James is grateful, "[Dad] helped me every step of the way, and I grew up playing with my brothers and I always wanted to play like them. Since I was a child, I only had football in my head, soccer ball, or soccer. ”
Lauren and brother Reese.
Strong backing
Lauren James showed talent in football at an early age. As early as the age of 13, she was discovered by Arsenal club scouts and began training with the Arsenal men's team.
"At first the boys wondered how there were girls training with them, but it didn't take long for them to understand." She later recalled.
In just two years, Lauren grew rapidly and began training with the Arsenal Women's Senior Team. At the age of 16, she made her debut for Arsenal Women, becoming the second youngest player to make her debut in Arsenal's history.
Lauren James then wore the United Women's shirt and became a member of Chelsea Women in the summer of 2021.
Lauren James plays for Chelsea Women.
Looking back on Lauren James' growth now, her rapid rise is undoubtedly inseparable from the rapid development of women's football in England in the past decade.
Since 2011, the FA has overhauled the women's league system – establishing the Women's Premier League and restructuring other multi-level leagues. At present, the Women's Premier League has 12 participating teams, while England already has ten levels of women's football.
The development of domestic competitions has greatly expanded the foundation of women's football in England, taking the 2022-2023 FA Women's FA Cup as an example, in which a total of 438 women's football teams participated.
On the other hand, in the 2023 season of the Chinese Women's FA Cup, only 16 teams from the Women's Super League and Women's A will participate...
At the FA Women's Cup final on 14 May this year, a total of 77,390 spectators descended on Wembley Stadium to watch Chelsea Women vs Manchester United Women.
The final of the Chinese Women's FA Cup, which was held on July 31 this year, was not even arranged in a regular football stadium, but in the empty field of the training ground of the Dalian Football Youth Training Base...
Compared with the score of 1-6 in the World Cup, perhaps the gap between 0 and 77390 in the number of spectators is more worthy of alarm.