England celebrates as they make history by advancing to the semi-finals for the first time ever.
by Debby von Winckelmann
A good team will punish you for your mistakes.
On Saturday, England capitalized on Canada’s mistakes in their quarterfinal match, defeating the host nation 2-1 to the dismay of a largely pro-Canadian crowd of 54,027.
The English scored two early goals in the first half, just three minutes apart, and held on to win, despite an energized comeback from the Canadians, sparked by a goal from team captain Christine Sinclair.
“To get a result in that atmosphere against an incredible Canada team was an amazing result,” said Mark Sampson, England’s coach. “I’m really proud of women’s football today, with a sell-out crowd. I have never experienced a crowd like that before.”
In the 11th minute, Canada’s Lauren Sesselmann slipped as she tried to clear the ball and England’s Jodie Taylor was all over it, sprinting with it around another defender and finishing with a perfectly-placed shot past Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod.
Just three minutes later, the Three Lionesses took a 2-0 lead after Fara Williams sent a free kick to the back post and Lucy Bronze headed it off the crossbar and it bounced down into the goal.
The crowd quieted down as Canada tried to ramp up and turn the tide. The Canadians got their chance to penalize the English for a mistake in the 42nd minute when goalkeeper Karen Bardsley failed to hold on to a cross by Ashley Lawrence. The ball fell in front of Sinclair, who quickly knocked it into the back of the net, cutting England’s lead to 2-1.
Christine Sinclair made it exciting with her goal in the 42nd minute to cut the lead to 2-1.
The Canadians, with momentum and the crowd on their side, had to think they had some luck on their side, as well, when Bardsley suddenly had to leave the game in the 52nd minute for a problem with her eye. She was replaced with Siobhan Chamberlain, who had never played in a World Cup, despite having been rostered for three.
Canada could not take advantage of the debutante goalie, however, and Chamberlain only had to make one save, as England held on to advance to the team’s first-ever World Cup semi-final.
Siobhan Chamberlain, who had never played in a World Cup, had to replace staring goalkeeper Karen Bardsley in the 52nd minute.
In the end, while the defensive errors by the Canadians were sorely visible because those resulted in goals, the offensive errors – the inability of the offense to finish their opportunities – were just as costly.
“It’s not how we imagined it all to end,” said John Herdman, Canada’s coach. “You win this game and you hope to go all the way through. Congratulations to Mark (Sampson), and his team, and they were very hard to break down. I’m just disappointed for all of Canada. We had good shape and good rhythm, but this is football at this level. The players can be proud walking out of here tonight. I can guarantee those fans that we gave our best, but our best just wasn’t quite good enough.”
England will play the defending World Cup champion Japan on Wednesday in Edmonton.
