Locals revelling in England’s struggles

THE ‘neutral’ Australian fans in attendance at yesterday’s England game were unsurprisingly rooting for Nigeria. A number of supporters wearing Aussie shirts had Nigeria’s green and white colours painted on their faces.

The atmosphere was flat whenever England had the ball but if Nigeria started to attack there were loud cheers. When the Lionesses had their first-half penalty overturned, much of the stadium celebrated as if Nigeria had scored a goal. They had little to celebrate at full time.

NIGERIA’S Michelle Alozie wore odd boots (above) in yesterday’s game, with the forward choosing one black and one white. Alozie has been playing in different coloured boots for several years as a nod to her favourite player, Mario Balotelli, who has done the same throughout his career,

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the LAUREN JAMES fifth England player a to be sent off at World Cup — following Ray Wilkins group (v Morocco, 1986 stage), David Beckham last (v Argentina, 1998 16), Wayne Rooney (v Portugal, 2006 Millie quarter-final) Bright (v USA, 2019 semi-final).

BBC viewers were frustrated that the commentary for yesterday’s England game was slightly ahead of the pictures for much of the first half.

The issue was resolved but it was not a good look for the broadcaster.

AUSTRALIA joined England in the last eight with a 2-0 victory over Denmark. Sam Kerr made her long-awaited return as a second-half substitute. Caitlin Foord put the Matildas ahead in the first half before Hayley Raso’s strike sealed the victory in the second. Kerr had not played a minute of the tournament because of a calf injury but the Chelsea forward was introduced late in the game. The co-hosts play the winners of France v Morocco.