By Our Correspondent
England Women attacker Lauren James has been handed a two-game ban for her stamp on Nigeria Women’s Michelle Alozie during their World Cup last-16 clash last Friday.
The Chelsea forward was given her marching orders for treading her foot on Alozie’s back after the pair had gone to ground last week, initially being given a yellow card before her punishment was upgraded.
Despite seeing out the rest of normal time and extra time with 10 players, England still progressed to the quarter-finals on penalties, setting up a showdown with Colombia in the process.
While James would have been guaranteed to sit out the quarter-final through suspension, there were fears that an extended ban could have ruled her out for the remainder of the tournament.
However, the 21-year-old will be able to play in the World Cup final should the Lionesses progress that far, having been slapped with a two-game suspension for her misdemeanour.
As a result, James will play no part in Saturday’s quarter-final with Colombia, while she will also miss any possible semi-final with France or co-hosts Australia.
