England boss Mark Sampson said his team are building momentum at the right time ahead of their Women's World Cup last 16-tie against Norway on Monday. A 2-1 win over Colombia in their final Group F game ensured England finished second to France on goal difference.
They now face a team who are five places below them at 11th in the world. "Norway drew 1-1 with the best team in the tournament [Germany], but we are playing well and have weapons to potentially hurt them," said Sampson. "We are building a real sense of momentum emotionally and in our results and performances so we can play them confidently and look to be positive."
Although England will now face a tougher opponent than if they had won the group, finishing runners-up means they could potentially avoid double World Cup winners Germany in the last eight.
But Sampson said he was not worried about an improved route through the tournament as he aims to reach his indented target of at least the last four. England have never made it past the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
"Norway have shown they are a very good side, and from now on anything but a good England performance won't be good enough for us to get a result," he said. "We have to raise the bar because we are going to be challenged by some great teams."
Birmingham City Ladies striker, Karen Carney, 27, opened the scoring against Colombia before a Fara Williams penalty put England in control before half-time but a late Lady Andrade goal meant that England have now conceded twice in stoppage time.
Sampson praised England forward Carney, who also scored in their last game against Mexico after coming off the bench, and said his decision to replace her after 56 minutes on Wednesday was for tactical and disciplinary reasons rather than fitness.
The Birmingham forward had been struggling with a back problem before the tournament.
He said: "We have seen from her two performances that she is sharp, she is in a great place. She is a wizard at times on the football pitch, she just sees things and delivers things that no-one else can imagine and we have seen that in the last two games.
In the second half, it was a game where it was difficult to thread the ball into the pockets and we needed a more aggressive forward to secure possession in Lianne Sanderson. Karen was carrying a booking so it was important not to risk that situation and see the game out."
