01 August 2023 , 14:55
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Lucy Bronze was not the only member of her family to be left furious for her caution in the Lionesses' 6-1 victory over China on Tuesday evening.
The Barcelona full-back was defending a corner at the near post shortly before the hour mark when VAR intervened to check for a possible handball. Bronze had seemingly been pushed slightly by goalkeeper Mary Earps, forcing her into the path of the delivery.
Yet, Australian official Casey Reibelt delivered her verdict and showed Bronze a yellow card for the violation, leaving the defender with a baffled expression, while also pointing to the spot.
It was the second decision of the day to go harshly against Bronze, who was ruled to be in an offside position in the build-up to Lauren James' second goal in the first half, forcing what would have been a sublime strike from the Chelsea starlet to be etched into VAR's box of what-ifs.
And the second decision against Bronze caused plenty of controversy over VAR's decision-making from pundits and fans alike.
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But perhaps no one was more aggrieved than Bronze's brother, Jorge. Taking to Twitter, the Lionesses' sibling wrote: "Someone is going to have to explain that offside to me?"
He followed his initial query with another humorous quip: "Did it not come off her boob?"
China star Wang Shuang converted the penalty to draw China back to a 3-1 scoreline, not that the penalty or disallowed goal caused England too much heartache at the final whistle as they cruised to a delightful 6-1 victory.
Minutes after Shuang's conversion from the spot, James supplied another sublime finish as she met Jess Carter's cross-pitch pass into the box with a sumptuous volley into the far netting.
And while brother Bronze had plenty to say on the matter, he went with the more succinct: "Disallow that you mug" before later writing "VAR Check - yellow card for Lucy Bronze" after yet another England goal threatened to be filed under chalked-off after Rachel Daly's first, and England's sixth, was checked for offside.
But the goal ultimately stood, and England were left to celebrate a comprehensive victory to fire them into the knockout stages with nine points from nine.
Nevertheless, Lucy Bronze seemed to not have forgotten her earlier grievances with the match's officiating as she was spotted appearing to snub the handshake of referee Reibelt at full-time.
Tuesday's victory was in stark contrast to England's first two World Cup encounters, in which goals and cohesion arrived at a premium.
The loss of inimitable midfielder Keira Walsh threatened to exacerbate England's woes. Yet an unexpected formation change from manager Sarina Wiegman proved prescient and England relished the freedom to make a huge statement to the rest of the tournament as they claimed nine points from nine to finish top of group D.