England defender Jess Carter has admitted she felt “relief” that her team-mate Lauren James wasn’t the only player to miss a penalty against Sweden during the Euro quarter-final penalty shoot-out.
Eventual winners, England, edged past Sweden after coming out victorious on penalties. James, who stepped up for the second spot-kick, saw her attempt saved by Sweden’s Jennifer Falk.
England went on to miss three other penalties as Beth Mead struck the post and Alex Greenwood, along with Grace Clinton, were similarly denied by the Sweden goalkeeper.
Having been the target of online racism during the tournament, Carter was fearful that James would suffer the same fate, had Mead, Clinton and Greenwood not also missed from the spot. England went on to win the tournament on penalties, beating Spain in the final.
“It’s horrible to say, but it’s almost like a sigh of relief when other players who weren’t Black missed a penalty,” Carter told ITN.
“The racism that would have come with LJ [Lauren James] being the only one that missed would have been astronomical.
“It’s not because we want them to fail – it’s about knowing how it’s going to be for us [England Black players) if we miss.”
Reflecting on her own experience, James opened up about the abuse she received, admitting she felt “scared” when England boss Sarina Wiegman had told her she would be playing in the final.
Carter also admitted she was “scared” to play in the final after being told she would be involved by coach Sarina Wiegman
“That’s the first time I’ve ever been scared; too scared to play,” she said.
“I think it was a mixture of such a big game but then on top of that, (I was) scared of whatever abuse might come with it, whether it’s football-based or whether it was going to be the racial abuse that was going to come with it because I did something wrong.”
Speaking about the impact the abuse had on her, Carter added: “It makes you feel really small. It makes you feel like you’re not important, that you’re not valuable.
“It makes you second-guess everything that you do – it’s not a nice place to be. It doesn’t make me feel confident going back onto the pitch. My family was so devastated by it as well and so sad.”
Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham said during the tournament that the governing body had referred the “abhorrent” abuse to the UK police.
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