Maya ‘so confident’ of England success

England took a step closer to glory with a hard-fought 2-1 win against Colombia to the delight of players and fans back home.

The Lionesses will play Australia, the home nation, tomorrow in the semi-finals after the Matildas scored a dramatic win over France on penalties earlier on Saturday.

England had scrambled an equaliser through Lauren Hemp in the final minutes before half-time to the cheers of Guernsey’s own Lioness Le Tissier, her Manchester United teammate Leah Galton and Aston Villa defender Anna Patten who watched the game alongside fans at a McDonald’s screening in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

Alessia Russo was awarded the Player of the Match after scoring England’s winner in the 63rd minute, to the joy of fans who put up with long bouts of summer drizzle to watch the game on big screens back home.

Le Tissier, who was with the Lionesses down under until their first game of the World Cup as a stand-by player following her surprise omission from the final squad after an impressive debut campaign for United, said: ‘I am so confident.

‘It is only two games left and hopefully we can win both of them and become world champions.

‘In the second half I think they played very well – obviously a World Cup quarter-final is not going to be easy, but they got the job done and I am really happy to see Alessia on the scoresheet.’

Le Tisser, who said she enjoyed mingling with the fans to support the Lionesses, added: ‘Just to be here supporting the girls is great.

‘I really enjoyed my time when I was with them [the England team] and I think it was really beneficial for me. Now I think I can watch it as a fan and enjoy it.

‘I think it has been a really good community feeling.’