BLUES Ladies pair Jade Moore and Karen Carney played a key role as England progressed to the quarter-final stage of the Women’s World Cup for the first time in their history.
Both players played the full 90 minutes as Mark Sampson’s side defeated Norway 2-1 on Monday evening.
Skipper Steph Houghton led by example by heading home an equaliser after Solveig Gulbrandsen had given Norway a 1-0 lead at the break.
And right-back Lucy Bronze scored the winner with a superb 30-yard strike to set up a last-eight meeting with hosts Canada early on Sunday morning.
“I’m really proud of the players,” said Sampson. “I can’t understate that. They were under huge pressure. They had some memories they wanted to erase.
“The momentum we will get from this win will put us in a great place going into the quarter final.
“England needed some moments. KB (goalkeeper Karen Bardsley) produced two or three and every other player stepped up too.
“To show that character and resilience to come from a goal down in this tournament is an incredible achievement.
“This team will always be remembered. They will always be the first (England) team to win a knockout match at a Women’s World Cup.”
Both Carney and Moore are expected to start again against Canada, while fellow Blues midfielder Jo Potter will also be hoping to be selected for the historic fixture.
Sampson added: “We are determined to keep this journey going.
“We’ve got an excellent record against this Canadian team.
“They have got the home crowd, excellent players (and) an excellent manager so we are going to have to produce another massive England performance to get ourselves through to the last four.”
