English Lionesses set their sights on Japan
Although most of the 54,027 fans were cheering against his team on Saturday, England coach Mark Sampson called the Women’s World Cup quarter-final with Canada at BC Place “the best sporting arena I’ve been in in my life.”
“The hairs on the back of the neck stood up when Christine Sinclair went to speak before the game and the crowd erupted and stood up,” Sampson said. “I thought it showed a lot of respect for the women’s game in this country.”
While the Canadians dwell on the heartbreaking 2-1 loss that ended the host team’s run in the World Cup, England arrived in Edmonton on Sunday in high spirits. The players had broad smiles, some taking a quick break to toss a football in the parking lot as they waited to board their bus.
The English Lionesses scored two goals in three short minutes early in the opening half to seal Canada’s fate in the tournament and secure England a spot in Wednesday’s 5 p.m. semifinal against Japan at Commonwealth Stadium.
“The Canadian team and the Canadian group of staff left everything on the field. They had nothing left to give. It was just on the day, we were a slightly bit better,” Sampson said, calling the match “a really special” experience.
“We were just privileged to be part of such a great occasion (Saturday),” he said. “For our players, that will live long in their memory and they’ll remember it for the rest of their lives.”
Now that the team is in Edmonton, England is focusing on its first appearance in a Women’s World Cup semifinal, where it will face one of the most dominant teams of the tournament. The defending champions from Japan defeated Australia 1-0 at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday.
On Wednesday, Japan will certainly present the Lionesses with drastically different challenges than the Canadians did.
“They’re really technical, good footballers, their movement, their passing, it’s brilliant,” said England forward Jodie Taylor, who scored a goal against Canada.
“They’re a great team. We’ve got a lot of respect for them and admire them as footballers. I’ve watched them for years. But there’s something special going on in our team right now, and we have a lot of belief in how we’re playing and progressing through the tournament.”
Taylor said although it will be a tough game, England isn’t intimidated. The players are going into the game with “a quiet confidence.”
“What we’ve seen now is we’re a tough team to score against,” Sampson said. “We’re scoring goals — two goals (per game) in the last four matches — and we’re in a great place to really attack the semifinal.”
Despite being the squad that booted the Canadians out of the tournament, Sampson is hoping to attract some new fans to his team’s cheering section Wednesday.
“Our team has been, I think, excellent ambassadors for the game. We’ve really enjoyed being in all the cities — Moncton (N.B.), Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and now looking forward to experiencing Edmonton,” he said.
“We’ve represented our country with great pride and passion. I really hope that a lot of sports fans will connect with that and, hopefully, the neutrals might start to support the England team.”