ADELAIDE — Lucy Bronze said referee Casey Reibelt “just wanted to give me a yellow card for fun” after she was contentiously penalised for a handball in England’s 6-1 World Cup victory over China on Tuesday.
Bronze was inadvertently pushed onto the ball by teammate Mary Earps and after a VAR review, referee Casey Reibelt awarded a penalty, which was scored by Wang Shuang.
“No I knew it hit my hand, but it wasn’t deliberate, unless I cut my arm off I don’t know how I get my arm out the way,” Bronze said.
“Again, we sit down with referees every tournament to discuss the rules, the rules are if I’m trying to put my hand next to my body… I said to the girls she’s going to give the penalty because it hits my hand but Mary was behind me. If I was trying to hit the ball away I would have hit my hand in the air.
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) August 1, 2023
#CHN have a penalty through VAR…#FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/A5Gyg03Liu
“I knew it wasn’t deliberate but I guess she just wanted to give me a yellow card for fun.”
Defender Jess Carter, who was drafted into a back three as part of a new-look 3-5-2 formation, admitted she was surprised that the penalty was given but insisted England should not have given China the opportunity to get back into the game.
“Firstly I’m a defender so I’m disappointed with the goal,” Carter said.
“I think it’s a bit of a tough call from the ref to be honest, I think we gave up a couple of chances from getting a bit sloppy in transition, but it’s nice to get quite a few goals as well, get different people on the scoresheet and show what we can do going forward.”
Lauren James starred on the night, following her match-winner against Denmark with two spectacular goals and three assists, but her tally could have been even higher had another spectacular strike not been ruled out because Bronze was adjudged offside – even though she was heading away from goal and was not interfering with play.
“Yeah, [I’m] sad for LJ because I don’t know why it’s been called for offside,” Bronze said, revealing she told the referee “I don’t know why you’ve given me offside”.
“If [Lauren] Hempo scored the cross I wouldn’t have been offside.”
The right-back also appealed for a penalty of her own amidst a tussle moments after she had hit the woodwork but admitted: “I thought it was a penalty, but I think I was the only one that thought it was.
“Playing for England you tend to know that sometimes decisions don’t go your way and luckily enough for us we finished the game off ourselves.
“I do think LJ’s goal should have stood, she should have had a hat-trick, it would have been a huge moment for her, in her first World Cup to score a hat-trick for England.”
Lauren James is denied of a wonderful second goal thanks to VAR
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) August 1, 2023
Do you think Lucy Bronze was offside?#FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/VLJTeCuQaI
VAR controversy has largely been kept to a minimum so far at this World Cup, unlike the 2019 tournament which was dominated by errors – most notably Ellen White’s late semi-final goal against the USA being ruled out.
“As a team it’s something we’ve been through before,” Bronze added.
“At the last World Cup we went through an even more interesting game with VAR and the opposition and refereeing decisions. I think tonight was a little bit easier but personally I had more go against me than anyone else. It wasn’t a fun game in that respect, the referee for me.
“So I was quite disappointed with that game to come off with that performance. The most important thing is we won, we’re through to the next game, no one else got injured.”
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