The Lioness will take on Nigeria in their first knockout stage match in the World Cup.
England should brace themselves for a challenging knockout game against Nigeria, warns Lionesses legend Rachel Yankey.
Despite England’s 6-1 victory over China in their final group game of the Women’s World Cup, Yankey cautions against underestimating Nigeria, who upset World Cup co-hosts Australia 3-2 in their last visit to Brisbane.
“I think the next game will be quite tough to be honest. Nigeria play a very different style of football,” Yankey, who played as a forward for Arsenal and England, told Metro.
“It’s silly, but before today part of me was thinking oh, [England] come second and play Australia.
“So I’m glad in this game they’ve got goals and managed to rotate the team so they can rest some players.”
The Lionesses’ performance against China showcased their brilliant attacking form, which has been a subject of scrutiny. An early strike from Alessia Russo opened the scoring for England, who kept their opponents under pressure throughout the game.
“This team has been questioned on scoring from open play, so I think that first goal from Alessia was really important,” Yankey added. “After that, Lauren James was fantastic and so many other players managed to prove themselves.
“Everyone looked confident. People watching wanted to see goals, they got goals today so I think people can be happy.”
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