Lauren James felt fear of being targeted with racist abuse after a missed penalty and hoped teammates would also miss to avoid being singled out. The quarter-final shoot-out against Sweden saw multiple England misses before the team progressed 3-2. James referenced prior abuse suffered by Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after missed penalties in Euro 2020 as a reason for her concern. James started six games at the tournament but suffered an injury in the quarter-finals, attempted to continue, and withdrew at half-time in the semi-final due to severe pain.
Stepping up, I was thinking, if I miss I hope I'm not the only one because I know what comes with it - it happened before and keeps happening. As sad as it sounds, it was the biggest relief ever that other players missed. Who would have thought that? You always want your team-mates to score so you get through.
I was definitely thinking: 'If I miss I hope I'm not the only one that misses'. Because I know what comes with it.
I was obviously fighting to be fit for the Euros, then suffered another injury in the quarter-finals, and tried to play on. Then people assume you're not trying, but at the end of the day I'm in a ridiculous amount of pain which caused me to come off at half-time in the semi-finals
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