- Sampson praises team’s character in fight back
- ‘They have shown desire I’ve never seen from England before’
Mark Sampson was overjoyed to see his Lionesses become the first England team of either gender to reach a World Cup semi final since Sir Bobby Robson’s side reached the last four at Italia 90.
“I’m just so proud of the players, the staff,” said England’s 32-year-old Welsh born coach after watching his players beat Canada 2-1 in front of 54,000 at BC Place. “To get a result in front of that atmosphere, that crowd and an excellent Canadian team is unbelievable, incredible.”
Sampson - whose side face the holders Japan in the semi final in Edmonton on Wednesday - laughed when asked if a Welshman could prove the saviour of English football. “I’m proud of my team and of women’s football, it was an incredible performance,” he said.
“It was a sell out and I’ve never been in a crowd, an atmosphere like that. We had to dig deep. Canada took us to the limit. John Herdman and his team pushed us to the wire they made us fight for every ball, defend with our lives.
“This team has shown incredible character, resilience and togetherness. These players have shown a desire I’ve never seen from an England team before.”
Early goals from Jodie Taylor and Lucy Bronze put England two up before Christine Sinclair reduced the deficit following a goalkeeping error from Karen Bardsley.
An allergic reaction which caused Bardsley’s eye to swell alarmingly, impairing her vision saw her withdrawn early in the second half. Afterwards Sampson said she had been taken to hospital and was seeing a specialist.
Happily the coach’s vision remains crystal clear. “Japan will be a huge challenge but I will pick a team to give us a chance of reaching the final,” he said. “We can be a very difficult opponent.”
Whatever the result a watershed has surely been reached in the devlepoment of women’s football in England. Steph Houghton, the Lionesses’s captain summed things up rather well: “Our aim before coming out here was to inspire a nation,” she said. “Hopefully we’ve done that tonight.”
John Herdman, Canada’s English coach proved magnanimous in defeat. “Our best just wasn’t good enough,” he said. “We had chances but we never put it in the back of the net. That’s football at the highest level. We got done by two bad mistakes. I’ll be beating myself up when I look back at the footage.”
Not to mention Sampson’s long ball tactics. “England have a way of playing,” said Herdman in his strong north east accent. “They’re very direct and they play off set pieces. They used Jodie Taylor’s pace to go very direct.
“But they got their tactics right, they worked - congratulations to Mark. We can’t hide that we are a transitional team but we wanted to make our country proud and I think we did. All I’m going to say is stick with us - we’ll be back and fighting proud.”
There were suggestions Herdman might have been courted by the Football Association before Sampson was handed the job of succeeding Hope Powell 18 months ago but, asked if he had any regrets about not returning home his answer was unequivocal.
“No chance,” he said. “Ask the players where they’d rather live. Tomorrow I’ll be walking on the beach by the Pacific with my wife and kids.”
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