England star Chloe Kelly has revealed that penalty practice helped them scored the winning spot-kick to send the Lionesses into the World Cup quarter-finals.
The European champions had to survive extra time after Lauren James was given red card towards the end of 90 minutes for a petulant stamp on Nigeria player Michelle Alozie’s back.
Nigeria missed their first two spot-kicks, with Desire Oparanozie and Alozie failing to hit the target.
Bethany England and Rachel Daly then gave the Lionesses the advantage, after Georgia Stanway missed England’s first penalty of the shoot-out.
The Nigerian goalkeeper, Nnadozie Chiamaka was seen crying after England defeats.
Kelly and Alex Greenwood Immediately went to console the goalkeeper after the England’s 4-2 penalty shootout victory.
Speaking after the match, Chloe Kelly expressed excitement as plenty penalty practice had paid off, citing they’re capable of anything that’s thrown at them.
The Manchester City forward, who scored the winning goal in last year’s European Championship final said, “It’s amazing, anything that’s thrown at us we show what we’re capable of. We’ve been practising a lot and it’s working.
“We dig deep as a group and we believe in our ability and, first and foremost, we believe in what we’re getting told to do.
“We’ve been practicing [penalties] a lot, actually, and it’s working.
“For me, [my mindset is] ‘I’m going to score’ and that’s how I look at it. Once I win that mental battle, we’re good.
“[It’s] definitely not [just me], it’s the team. This team is special. We did it at the Euros, we did it in the Finalissima and we’re here again tonight in doing it. We keep pushing forward and there’s more to come from this special team,” Kelly said.
