How ‘experienced’ England fought back to beat Colombia (1:42)
Mark Ogden recaps England’s 2-1 quarterfinal win over Colombia at the Women’s World Cup. (1:42)
Tom Hamilton, Senior WriterAug 12, 2023, 11:05 AM ET
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• Joined ESPN in 2011
• Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours
• Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018
Lauren Hemp said England are brimming with confidence ahead of their Women’s World Cup semifinal with Australia while Sarina Wiegman admits she’ll need a crash course on the England-Australia rivalry ahead of the blockbuster clash.
England defeated Colombia 2-1 in Sydney on Saturday, thanks to goals in either half from Hemp and Alessia Russo. Leicy Santos opened the scoring for Colombia in the 44th minute and Hemp then equalised in first-half added time with a close range finish. Russo then struck the winner in the 63rd minute with a shot across the keeper.
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The win tees up a box office clash with hosts Australia in the same stadium on Wednesday.
“We are all feeling really confident, Australia, bring it on,” Hemp told ITV postmatch. “I’m absolutely over the moon, I can’t wait.
“The atmosphere here was incredible, it’s going to be incredible again. That’s when you thrive, I feel like we will thrive once again.”
Hemp added to the BBC: “It just makes it so much more exciting so for me I can’t wait to get going against Australia. It’s going to be a packed out stadium with so many Australian fans but we know if we play at our best, we are unstoppable so hopefully we’ll be able to bring that.”
Wiegman was delighted with England’s performance and the self-control they showed. There were times where they felt the brunt of Colombia’s physicality but came through without any bookings, meaning Georgia Stanway, Lucy Bronze and Lauren Hemp are all available for the semifinal having come into the quarterfinal with yellow cards against their name.
“I think they did a tremendous job by being, you know, you have to be aggressive, you’re playing a football game, you have to play duels to win. In one moment you can pick up a yellow card. But yes they were controlled and they were aggressive but didn’t go over the edge. That’s well done. So I’m happy that they did that because we have the players available for the next match and they now have lost their cards.”
Wiegman was also pleased with England’s performance. “Of course I’m very, very happy to stay here for another week and to get through to the semi-finals. It’s very special. I thought the team again showed some resilience and a lot of togetherness. I’m just really proud again of the team.”
Wiegman played down any injury concerns over Rachel Daly after she was seen getting treatment at the end of the match as they start planning for Australia. Wiegman says they’re looking forward to the atmosphere facing them in Sydney on Wednesday, while she’ll be doing a crash course on the England-Australia rivalry in the next day or so.
When asked about the rivalry and how big an occasion it’ll be on Wednesday, Wiegman said: “I just think it’s going to be really big but now I’ve had a couple of questions about that so it’s probably going to be bigger than I thought it was!
“I will speak to my players and staff to see what that rivalry is then. We have had such a warm welcome here and really enjoyed our time here in Australia. I actually really like the people here but that doesn’t mean there’s no rivalry so we will see on Wednesday.”
