'Proud of you': England and Man Utd midfielder praised after outstanding FIFA World Cup debut

A dominant Lionesses performance saw them thrash China 6-1 and offer a safe passage through to the last 16 of the FIFA World Cup where they will face Nigeria.

While goalscorer Lauren James took the bulk of the headlines after a scoring a sublime brace, many have also praise the performance of Manchester United midfielder Katie Zelem after her superb display on her first ever England start.

"We announce the line-ups the night before so I was very excited, my first start for England in any game. China were really organised, there wasn’t too much space for me and Georgia [Stanway] in the first half but it allowed players like LJ [Lauren James] to get on the ball and who better to get on the ball in an England shirt than Lauren James?" said Zelem to BBC Radio Five Live in the aftermath of the 6-1 win.

“I’ve know LJ for a long time, played with her at Manchester United so I’ve known the talent she had so there is no surprise she is playing this well at the tournament and hopefully it will continue.”

Playing her first full 90 minutes for the Lionesses, the Red Devils skipper was impressive throughout, with 88% passing accuracy, 87 touches, 13 passes into the final third, six recoveries and all of her tackles won - and it saw a number of pundits and fans take to Twitter to praise her performance.

Jamie Spencer, journalist for 90mins, wrote: "She wasn't fazed in the slightest and set about playing her normal game, sitting in the deep-lying midfield role, both shielding the defence behind and picking passes to keep the ball moving. With no definitive news on whether Walsh will return before the end of the tournament, Zelem might have done enough to earn that place for as long as England remain at the World Cup."

Elsewhere an emotional post her father Alan, a former goalkeeper for Macclesfield Town, wrote: "You smashed it. Proud of you" while Manchester United's official account posted: "We couldn't be more proud of our captain" following the midfielder's display.

One Twitter user wrote: "She won't get the headlines but United fans know she's worth her weight in gold!", while another commented: "She stepped up and was very neat and tidy as well as providing her trademark deliveries from wide areas".

Zelem will now be expected to start in England's round of 16 clash with Nigeria, which takes place Monday 7 August, kick off scheduled for 8:30am BST.