Alessia Russo makes honest England admission ahead of World Cup quarter-final
Alessia Russo believes England will have to improve their performances to become World Champions.
The Lionesses meet Colombia in the quarter-finals in Sydney this Saturday after a nail-biting penalty shootout win over Nigeria. After losing Lauren James to a red card the European Champions looked on the verge of leaving the tournament.
But they held on for the shootout, where forward Chloe Kelly smashed home the winning spot-kick. Russo had England's best chance in normal time, forcing a good save from Nigeria skipper Chiamaka Nnadozie.
Goal scoring opportunities were few and far between for the Lionesses, with Russo withdrawn during extra-time as Sarina Wiegman aimed to shore things defensively. And the England forward admitted they would have liked to create more chances during the game.
“I don’t think we underestimated them (Nigeria), said Russo. "We know how good they have been in this tournament.
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"They have such big strengths. Obviously, we’d have liked to have created more chances but we’ve won and we’re into the next round.
"Yes we'll have to play better. I think we will progress as a team but also at the same time we want to win and move forward. And that’s all that matters in this tournament. We don’t want to be going to penalties every time, we want to win.
"It was tough. It shows how high the level of this tournament is. We’ve already seen it and Nigeria took it as far as it could go.
"I’m just buzzing we’ve got into the next round and we’ve got another game to play."
England will now have to cope without James against Colombia after the dismissal. The Chelsea star will automatically receive a one-match ban for the red card, but the ruling can be upgraded at the discretion of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, for which a precedent has been set.
Lauren James sparked World Cup fury when she stamped on Nigerian player Michelle Alozie in a moment of uncivilised sports play (Getty)Nigeria's Deborah Abiodun was sent off in extra-time of her side's first group stage match and was forced to serve a three-match ban. But Russo is confident James' mentality won't be affected by the incident.
"It (the red card) is football, unfortunately," Russo added. "As a team we’ll all get around her. She’s a great person. And yeah, we have got her back.
"She’s a very strong kid. She’ll be fine. We have a really special bond in this team. And we all have complete trust in each other."
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