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England end Canada's World Cup dream

England advanced to the semi-final of the World Cup for the first time after beating hosts Canada 2-1. Goals within 15 minutes from Jodie Taylor and Lucy Bronze stunned a capacity crowd of more than 54,000 at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.  

Coach Mark Sampson has guided England to their first semi-final at the Women's World Cup.
Coach Mark Sampson has guided England to their first semi-final at the Women's World Cup. Matt Kryger/USA TODAY Sports
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Even though veteran skipper Christine Sinclair halved the deficit just before the pause, the hosts could not find a leveller. England coach Mark Sampson attributed the victory to the opening round loss on 9 June to France.

"We still had that confidence after that first defeat," said Sampson. "I think that was our big moment of the tournament, the way the players bounced back from that defeat.

"So many teams would have struggled with that, doubted themselves. This team stayed strong, stayed together and stuck to the plan and now we find ourselves in a World Cup semi-final."

That setback in their first Group F match meant that the team nicknamed 'The Lionesses' had no choice but to bare their claws and go for the kill.

Four victories   all by 2-1 scorelines   have followed. Mexico and Colombia in Group F; Norway in the last 16 and   to the distress of the raucous partisans   Canada.

England, who will take on holders Japan on 1 July in Edmonton for a place in the final, are the outsiders. They are the lowest-ranked squad at sixth and the only team never to have won the title. The other semi-final pits the United States against Germany who have both claimed the trophy twice.

Sampson added: "The team knows we need to dig deep against an excellent Japan side to keep ourselves in this tournament."

The run to the semi-final is glowing vindication for 32-year-old Sampson who took over in December 2013 following the departure of Hope Powell. She left after the team failed to win a game at the Euro 2013 tournament.

"We've been on a big journey from when Mark took over 18 months ago," said captain Steph Houghton, who was named player of the match in Saturday's game.

"We're making history here. We always said we had one aim when we came here: to inspire a nation, and hopefully we've done that."

Among the celebrations, Sampson singled out substitute keeper Siobhan Chamberlain for special praise. She came on early in the second half after goalkeeper Karen Bardsley was forced to leave the field with swollen eyes due to an allergic reaction.

"That moment in the game epitomised what this team's about," said Sampson. "We've got two goalkeepers who every day train incredibly hard knowing they won't be starting a match but when that moment came Siobhan Chamberlain ... she just casually put her gloves on, walked on the field and stopped the ball going in the goal.

"That's the story of this team so far; everyone plays their part when needed."

Sampson's counterpart John Herdman was generous in defeat. "We hadn't written the script to be 2-0 down that early," he said. "England were hard to break down. They went for it, good on them, they got their tactics right and won the match."

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