Published 16 February 2023 3 min read
England Women's Senior Team
Lauren James' England lift-off
Chelsea star speaks after netting her first goal for the Lionesses in Arnold Clark Cup
Lauren James is loving life as an England international and believes her confidence will continue to increase after scoring her first Lionesses goal.
James made it three starts in six appearances for England Women during the opening match of the Arnold Clark Cup against Korea Republic on Thursday night.
And the 21-year-old capped off a player-of-the-match performance by scoring her first senior team goal during the 4-0 win.
James said: "I'm really happy with that goal. Lucy gave me a good set-up and I put it away.
"I'm loving it out there, I've grown into this team, and everyone's made me feel welcome.
"Now I'm only going to build on confidence and start combining [more] with other players as well."
James made it three starts in six appearances for England Women during the opening match of the Arnold Clark Cup against Korea Republic on Thursday night.
And the 21-year-old capped off a player-of-the-match performance by scoring her first senior team goal during the 4-0 win.
James said: "I'm really happy with that goal. Lucy gave me a good set-up and I put it away.
"I'm loving it out there, I've grown into this team, and everyone's made me feel welcome.
"Now I'm only going to build on confidence and start combining [more] with other players as well."
England dominated from start to finish against Korea Republic in Milton Keynes but had to wait until five minutes before half time to take the lead through a Georgia Stanway penalty.
It didn’t take long for the Lionesses to double their advantage following the restart through Chloe Kelly and it was 3-0 on 50 minutes when Alessia Russo poked home.
The scoring was then rounded off in emphatic fashion through James who thumped the ball home to make it 4-0.
James linked up well with centurion Lucy Bronze on the right-hand side and the Chelsea forward said: "She's a great player, a great person and very inspirational.
"I'm just looking forward to continuing to play with her and learning from her and hopefully we can keep getting goals."
It didn’t take long for the Lionesses to double their advantage following the restart through Chloe Kelly and it was 3-0 on 50 minutes when Alessia Russo poked home.
The scoring was then rounded off in emphatic fashion through James who thumped the ball home to make it 4-0.
James linked up well with centurion Lucy Bronze on the right-hand side and the Chelsea forward said: "She's a great player, a great person and very inspirational.
"I'm just looking forward to continuing to play with her and learning from her and hopefully we can keep getting goals."
James has impressed for club and country this season, scoring with several stunning strikes, but she is not getting carried away with the hype.Off the mark for the #Lionesses – and she's deserved that!
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) February 16, 2023
⭐️ @laurenjamess22 pic.twitter.com/OvE2UWREmf
"I just look at each game and see how I can help the team,” said James, whose older brother Reece plays for the England men’s senior team.
"I just want to keep on improving and see where that takes me.
"Hopefully we can win this [Arnold Clark Cup] again. That's what the aim is. We just have to take each game as it comes."
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