Lauren James: England winger criticises fans as ‘too quick to judge’ at Euro 2025

James played a key role in the British group stage – scored two goals in the Netherlands 4-0 in the Netherlands.

However, in the face of a quarter -final win against Sweden, he missed his second place in the penalty shot and admitted that he was afraid of racist abuse.

His teammates Beth Mead, Alex Greenwood and Grace Clinton could not score 3-2 with the penalties after England’s 2-2 draws.

However, James’s UK team -mate Jess Carter announced that he was subjected to online racism after the game and during the tournament. Carter said that if James later decided to conclude against Sweden, James said he was afraid that he would encounter “astronomical abuse”.

When the UK’s men lost penalties to Italy in the EURO 2020 final, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka experienced racist abuse on social media.

James confessed if he was asked if he was in his mind in Zurich: “Absolutely. Shooting, I was thinking, if I miss it, I hope I’m not the only one because I know what happened with him – it happened before and continues to be.

“As sad as it seems, the biggest relief of other players. Who would think about it? You always want your teammates to score goals, so you pass.

“Fortunately, we missed and passed, but it wasn’t a good moment – you play for your country, so you should feel the support of the fans. It doesn’t matter what color you are.”

However, James said that such a treatment would still not make him think twice about representing his country.

“This is where I am, where my mother is located, I always dreamed of playing for my country,” he added.

“We are doing great things with England-the euro back to the back, thank God I was a part of the last. I want to be a part of each of them in the future.”

Chelsea opens the WSL season to Manchester City on Friday, and faces a difficult question to develop the first campaigns under Sonia Bompastor, who won the league, FA Cup and League Cup.

However, after losing Barcelona in the semifinals, the hunger of the first Champions League title was increased by Arsenal’s victory over the Spaniards last year.

James, “Arsenal, last year shows the standard of British football.” He said. “It shows how high standards are and makes us feel, yes, we need to go and win.”