Women's World Cup: England have Colombia plan without Lauren James, says Sarina Wiegman
- Published
'We're not defined by one player' - England on James
England v Colombia |
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Venue: Stadium Australia Date: 12 August Kick-off: 11:30 BST |
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England have a plan to take on Colombia in Saturday's Women's World Cup quarter-final without top scorer Lauren James, says manager Sarina Wiegman.
James, 21, was sent off in the last-16 penalty shootout victory over Nigeria and is now suspended for two games.
She scored three and assisted three goals in four matches but Wiegman says England "know how they want to fill that position".
"Of course, she is still part of the squad," Wiegman told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"[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.
"It's [towards] 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. She is still part of our team, she just can't play [on Saturday]."
England are favourites to win the Women's World Cup following shock early exits for the USA, Germany, Canada and Brazil.
The Lionesses are also ranked 21 places higher than Colombia, but after surviving a scare against Nigeria in their last match, Wiegman expects a tough encounter at Stadium Australia in Sydney (11:30 BST kick-off).
"Of course, there is pressure," she said. "There are two teams who are very good. We want to play our best game and they do, too. That's how we approach it."
England goalkeeper Mary Earps, who has kept three clean sheets so far, added: "We can take a lot of pride in the work that we've done so far but there's still a long way we'd like to go.
"Some of our defensive work has been fantastic and long may it continue."
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Colombia, who are in their first Women's World Cup quarter-final, have proven themselves against European opposition by upsetting Germany to win 2-1 in the group stages.
Teenager Linda Caicedo has been a standout performer, while the Colombian fans have travelled in big numbers to support the team in Australia.
"Colombia have done very well. It's a strong team, very together, physically strong," said Wiegman.
"They have powerful players and want to get the ball to their attacking players because they are unpredictable and good."
Earps said she was "relishing" playing in front of a potentially hostile crowd and is embracing a physical test from Colombia, whose pre-tournament friendly with the Republic of Ireland was abandoned after 20 minutes because of fears of injury.
"I think in general, every World Cup game, you absolutely relish playing in," said Earps.
"This level is full of heat and pressure and all those emotions that come with it, and I think that's exciting as a player."
However, Wiegman hopes England will make lighter work of Colombia this time around, having played 120 minutes on Tuesday - getting through the whole of extra time with only 10 players after James' red card.
The European champions have underwhelmed in three of their four matches at the tournament, a 6-1 win over China the highlight following middling 1-0 wins over Haiti and Denmark in the group stages.
"I hope we don't have that much stress. In this tournament we've seen no game is easy. It's so competitive," added Wiegman.
"It's the beauty of the game and its growth. I hope we can decide it before [extra time] but we definitely think it'll be a very competitive game. We hope it'll go our way."
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Colombia boss Nelson Abadia said the fact they are the last nation representing the Americas at the Women's World Cup is motivation to beat England in Sydney.
Back-to-back world champions the USA were stunned in the last 16, while Olympic gold medallists Canada failed to get out of their group.
"To be representing the whole of the Americas is important," said Abadia. "To have all this positive energy not only from Colombia but from the whole continent is beneficial."
Abadia also plans to treat Saturday's showdown like a game of chess and hopes to outsmart Wiegman.
"We need to be chess players and analyse," said Abadia. "We have analysed England and what our best chances are going to be.
"We know all the history that England brings in football, it's important. But for me, it's 11 against 11 and the optimism is the same we have for every match.
"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."
Brown-Finnis' prediction
People are starting to doubt England, but this is the game where I think they will come out and play some beautiful football and get into a groove.
Even so, it is going to be very close and there are so many personal battles all over the pitch which will help decide it.
Colombia are a quality team and they will definitely create some chances. They switch play very effectively with diagonal balls and are very dangerous with headers.
But Mary Earps has kept three clean sheets and has only been beaten from the penalty spot - during the group-stage win over China and the shootout victory over Nigeria in the last round - and she is not going to concede here either.
Brown-Finnis' prediction: 1-0