BRISBANE, Australia — If style is in short supply, make sure you have plenty of substance to compensate. That was the message hammered home by Women’s World Cup favourites England as they overcame adversity and a tenacious Nigeria to reach the quarterfinals in Australia and New Zealand.
Chloe Kelly‘s decisive spot kick in a 4-2 penalty shootout win, after the round-of-16 tie had ended goalless and with England’s Lauren James sent off, sent the European champions into the last eight. That progress justified their billing as favourites to win the tournament (+225, according to Caesars Sportbook) in the wake of the back-to-back champions, the United States, exiting in another dramatic shootout against Sweden 24 hours earlier.
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Carrying the favourites tag in a World Cup can be as much of a burden as a source of motivation, though. The USWNT did little to warrant that status during their woeful campaign. After some impressive performances so far, it could be argued that Spain (+330), Japan (+475) co-hosts Australia (+750) or Sweden (+900) are more worthy of the “most likely to” label than England, whose only eye-catching display so far was the 6-1 group-stage victory…
