Kent’s Alessia Russo, who bagged the winner in England’s quarter-final against Colombia, has backed The Lionesses to go all the way in the Women’s World Cup.

England fell behind to Colombia in the 44th minute but hit back immediately to go in level at the break, before Russo struck the decisive blow in the 63rd minute.

The win means England face co-hosts Australia in the semi-finals on Wednesday morning.

“We’re just so happy to be in the semis,” Russo said. “We have had to dig deep from the first game. Colombia have so many players who can cause you so much trouble, but the backline was impressive for us.”

England have failed to produce their best football in the tournament, which is a testament to the battling qualities of Sarina Wiegman’s side.

“Sarina said that she was proud,” Russo added. “Lots to work on and we get rested and go again.”

Next up for The Lionesses is a mouth-watering clash with Australia, the only side to beat England in the Wiegman era.

“It’s exciting,” Twenty four year old Russo from Maidstone said. “What more do you want in front of a home crowd? You want to play against the best teams.”

“England fans can always dare to dream, but we’ll carry on working hard.”

Having started her footballing career at Charlton Athletic and then moving on to Chelsea to complete her time in the youth set up, Russo set sail to America to hone her game with a two year stint at North Carolina Tar Heels between 2017 and 2019.

With her father Mario having been instrumental in her footballing career, being a football coach himself, Alessia returned to the UK to sign for Manchester United in 2020 and it was there that she found fame and goals.

A three year spell in Manchester came to an end in the summer with a move to Arsenal as Russo made the journey south, but she’s yet to feature for her new side with the World Cup being upper most in her mind in recent weeks.

With 13 goals in 27 appearances for England, Russo has taken over the mantle left by Ellen White and seems certain to keep her place against the Matildas in Sydney on Wednesday.

Backed by a vociferous home support, the Australians will be a tough test for an England side that haven’t quite hit the heights of the Euro 2022 team from last summer, but with so much potential in the squad, just one more win and Russo will be in a World Cup Final.