Bronze celebrates scoring the goal that led England to their first-ever win in a knockout match. PHOTO: AFP
England, ranked sixth, had fallen behind to a 54th-minute goal for 1995 champions Norway off a Solveig Gulbrandsen header.
But second-half goals from Steph Houghton and Bronze gave England their first win in the knockout round of a Women’s World Cup.
“Bronze was outstanding today. She recovered from a couple of errors in the first half that nearly cost us and KB (goalkeeper Karen Bardsley) came to our rescue,” said coach Mark Sampson.
England next play hosts Canada on Saturday in Vancouver.
“It’s a real sense of pride for the team, to show that character and resilience to come back from a goal down,” said Sampson. “We’re ready for a big quarter-final and determined to keep this journey going.”
Meanwhile, the Norwegians were left ruing their profligacy when they were in the ascendancy. “We had six or seven fantastic opportunities before England had one,” lamented Norway coach Even Pellerud. “England scored on their first scoring chance to level the game and we started to struggle.”
Morgan, Lloyd lift USA over 10-woman Colombia
Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd both scored to put the United States into the quarter-finals with a hard-fought 2-0 win over 10-woman Colombia.
The 28th-ranked South Americans were a player down for most of the second half after new goalkeeper Catalina Perez was sent off for a diving tackle on US forward Morgan two minutes after the break.
Abby Wambach stepped up to take the penalty but the superstar striker dramatically sent the ball left of goal, denying her a record-equalling 15th Women’s World Cup goal to match Brazil star Marta.
However, Colombia felt they could have won the game had Perez not seen red. “If we had not had our goalkeeper sent off, the outcome would have been different,” said Colombia coach Fabian Taborda. “She’s a great goalkeeper. I think she played well. Unfortunately she was shown a red card. It’s the first time she has gotten one.”
The scorer of the winning goal also praised the opponents, while expressing optimism for the remainder of the tournament. “It was a huge match and a confidence booster as they’re not an easy team to play against,” said Lloyd. “We haven’t peaked yet. We still have a few more games to go for that.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2015.
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