England star Lucy Bronze snubs referee handshake after angry World Cup outburst

Lucy Bronze let her anger known after England’s thrashing of China on Tuesday as she snubbed the offer of a handshake from referee Casey Reibelt after the full-back gave away a penalty in what proved to be the only blip on an otherwise perfect display from the Lionesses. England went into their match against China knowing a draw would be enough to secure top spot in Group D.

But England were clearly in no mood to settle for a goalless draw as they hit China for six in an epic display from Sarina Wiegman’s side. The Lionesses boss changed formation to a 5-3-2 for the start with Lauren James playing in the pocket behind Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo.

Rachel Daly and Bronze were deployed as wing-backs on either side with all 10 of England’s outfield players taking to the system immediately. Russo gave England the lead inside four minutes with Hemp and James adding two more before the break.

James was then denied a belting second goal with her weaker left foot after curling in a wonder strike from the edge of the box. Bronze was adjudged to have been offside in the build-up play despite some confusion on whether the ball touched her or not.

England were able to brush off the minor disappointment at the break as they held a comfortable and deserving 3-0 lead over China. But China were given a route back into the match under more controversial circumstances involving Bronze at the start of the second half.

After a long VAR review, Bronze was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box with referee Reibelt awarding China a penalty and brandishing a yellow card for the England star. China scored the subsequent penalty, although England maintained their composure and regained their commanding lead before roaring to a 6-1 victory.

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Wiegman opted to protect some of her more senior players in the latter stages of the match with Bronze among the players coming off. But the 31-year-old was clearly still incensed by the earlier penalty decision as she took out her anger on the bench before taking her seat.

That anger hadn’t subsided immediately after the match either as Bronze snubbed referee Reibelt’s handshake. The England squad were lining up to shake hands with the officials and Bronze was seen embracing one of the officials.

But Bronze refused to hold out her hand when she passed Reibelt, brutally snubbing the Australian official.

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