England’s World Cup odyssey will continue with a trip to Ottawa where Norway await them in the round of 16 on Monday evening.  A goal from the impressive, immensely influential Karen Carney and a Fara Williams penalty ensured Mark Sampson’s side overcame awkward, tactically unconventional, opponents to escape the group stage. After a shaky start to Canada 2015 the Lionesses ended up second in Group F, finishing behind France on goal difference.  Not even a stoppage-time lapse in concentration which permitted Lady Andrade to defy the excellent Karen Bardsley with an audacious lob could wipe the smile off Sampson’s face. “We’re in a good place and we’ve got a strong winning mentality,” said England’s coach, whose arguably risky strategy of once again rotating his side paid off. “We’re going to face a really good, high quality Norwegian team who have drawn with Germany, the best team in the tournament. But this side’s ready.”  Colombia possess a quite devastating change of pace and it did not take long to manifest itself. Jordan Nobbs is no slouch but the England midfielder appeared to be moving in slow motion as Andrade surged past her before cutting back for Carolina Arias. Fortunately for Nobbs, the shot swerved way over the bar.  Even better, Sampson has Carney on his side. The creator he calls “The Wizard” popped up in precisely the right place at the right time to direct the ball between the legs of Sandra Sepulveda from close range after Colombia’s goalkeeper could only parry Alex Greenwood’s free-kick.  Sepulveda is an excellent keeper, and was outstanding against France, but she should have held on to Greenwood’s delivery. In mitigation, she had only just got to her feet after receiving protracted treatment following an accidental but painful clash of knees with Toni Duggan.  It was exactly the psychological boost an initially edgy England required as they strove to string more than a couple of passes together at a time. Perhaps the rather surreal atmosphere inside a cavernous stadium that, with the roof closed, resembled a giant spaceship had simply unnerved them.  Although that roof at least served to create a sort of echo chamber, amplifying crowd noise. An arena built for the 1976 Olympics featured acres of empty seats as Canadians, once again, displayed their indifference towards women’s football. The official attendance was given as 13,862 but felt lower.  Despite some success in breaking up the Lionesses’s attempts at settling into a rhythmic passing groove, Colombia were becoming frustrated by their own failure to test Bardsley’s reflexes and turned a little too niggly for Sampson’s liking. He had barely stopped complaining about Yoreli Rincón and Catalina Usme pushing Greenwood and Jade Moore over respectively, when England were awarded a penalty for Arias’s blatant handball. Up stepped Williams, who enjoyed an excellent game, to double England’s advantage with a right-footed kick which Sepulveda came tantalisingly close to reaching. It compensated for the moment a little earlier when Fran Kirby could not quite make the necessary connection with Carney’s fabulously chipped cross and headed tamely wide.  There was nothing remotely tepid about the wonderfully brave save Bardsley made on the brink of half-time. Colombia had finally succeeded in opening up England’s defence and Angela Clavijo looked set to volley a bouncing ball into the back of the net when the keeper dashed off her line to smother the danger.  Les Cafeteras began the second half in similarly determined mode and the elusive Rincón sent a shot dipping fractionally over the bar from distance. Sampson was sufficiently concerned to withdraw Kirby, aka his “Mini Messi”, and send on Jo Potter to tighten things up.  A previously pacy England’s attempts to slow down the game were meeting with limited success but Arias – already booked for the handball prefacing the penalty – was lucky not to be sent off for a second bookable offence in the wake of a wince-inducing challenge on Steph Houghton.  With the referee turning a blind eye to that one, a suddenly menacing Colombia continued to play with the sort of adrenaline that had seen them astound everyone by beating France last Saturday. It did not help Sampson’s cause that he had to take off Carney after 56 minutes. Much of England’s threat departed with an integral individual who, due to a chequered injury history, struggles to last 90 minutes. “Caz is a wizard with a ball at her feet,” he said. “She sees things others don’t.”  England’s coach once again had Bardsley to thank for acrobatically repelling Diana Ospina’s cross-shot but must have cursed when Lianne Sanderson miscued an extremely inviting chance conjured by Nobbs’s low centre.  Attempting to change the balance of play, Sampson replaced Duggan with his star striker, Jodie Taylor. The Portland Thorns forward would normally be expected to start but underwent knee surgery only seven weeks ago. Taylor quickly emphasised that she has lost none of her speed by accelerating towards the onrushing Sepulveda for a 50/50 ball, prompting a challenge which saw Colombia’s keeper booked and arguably fortunate not to see red.  There was still time for Andrade to reduce the deficit as the tournament’s surprise team limbered up for an unexpected round of 16 adventure as one of the best third-place finishers. This was Sampson’s night, though. “We’re building a real sense of momentum,” he said. “We’re confident and we’ve got a lot of different weapons. Now it’s a case of choosing the right ones.”
England survived a dramatic finale as goals from Karen Carney and Fara Williams ensured a 2-1 victory over Colombia and a place in the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup