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Reece James' ex-Chelsea team-mate admits Lionesses star Lauren 'a better finisher than me'
England Lioness Lauren James has been lighting up the Women's World Cup, much to the delight of brother Reece and his Chelsea colleagues.
World Cup diary: England thrash China to advance
Michy Batshuayi has joked that England Lionesses star Lauren James is a better finisher than him in an amusing tweet to her brother and Chelsea ace Reece James. Former Blues striker Batshuayi was clearly taking a keen interest in England’s 6-1 Women’s World Cup thumping of China on Tuesday.
Lioness James was in superb form for Sarina Wiegman’s side as they cruised into the knockout stage of the tournament. She struck two sensational goals and assisted a further three, while also having another wonderful effort ruled out.
She swept home England’s third goal before thumping in a dipping volley to score a fourth. The 21-year-old was unfortunate to see a curling strike ruled out after Lucy Bronze was judged to have been offside.
James’ performance caught the eye of her brother’s former team-mates. Batshuayi, known for his instinct in the penalty box during Premier League spells with Chelsea and Crystal Palace, tagged Blues men’s star James to gush about his sibling.
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“Damn Lauren’s got a better finish than me bro,” Batshuayi, who now plays for Fenerbahce, told James. The defender responded with three laughing emojis.
James has been one of England’s best players during the World Cup, despite not starting the first game of the tournament. Wiegman has introduced her into the starting line-up and she has repaid the faith in her head coach.
After the thrashing of China, Wiegman said: "She feels good, you can tell. She did special things today. Unfortunately that one goal was cancelled. She flows over the pitch.
"We expected China to press high because they had to win to go through. But they just stayed in shape. They didn't expect us to play this way and they didn't find a solution.
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Damn Lauren’s got a better finish than me bro ������������������ @ReeceJames
— Michy Batshuayi (@mbatshuayi) August 1, 2023
"It also helps when Lucy Bronze and Rachel Daly can press up in and out of possession. They worked well today."
Wiegman boldly switched to a back five ahead of facing China, with a couple of key players missing through injury. But England did not appear to miss the injured midfielder Keira Walsh, whose knee issue could scupper her chances of playing again in Australia and New Zealand.
Explaining her tactical tweak, Wiegman said: "I said before the game we had to do things a little different than we did before. We did really well it shows how adaptive we are on the pitch. Today it went really well. We want to use the qualities we have now and today it worked really well."
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