Women’s World Cup: Sampson hails England after reaching last 16
ENGLAND 2 COLOMBIA 1
ENGLAND manager Mark Sampson insists his side fully warranted last night’s victory over Colombia which sent them through the last 16 of the World Cup and a clash with Norway.
Birmingham winger winger Karen Carney opened the scoring before a successfully converted penalty from Liverpool midfielder Fara Williams gave England a commanding half-time lead.
Nerves began to jangle when Lady Andrade lobbed goalkeeper Karen Bardsley in stoppage time, although England held on to claim second place in Group F and a third successive appearance in the World Cup knockout stages.
“Congratulations to the team. It was a game of two halves and we deserved more than we got,” said Sampson, who used all 20 members of his squad during the group stage.
“We showed good character and maturity to see the game off in the second half. Colombia never really got behind us apart from the goal, we managed them well. Overall another good team performance.”
England now face Group B runners-up Norway in Ottawa on Monday for a place in the quarter-final, while Colombia live to fight another day in the tournament as one of the four teams to finish third with the best record.
France progressed after topping Group F ahead of England, and rounded off their group-stage exploits by annihilating Mexico 5-0 as Lyon forward Eugenie Le Sommer netted twice.