It will be an interesting battle between two captains as England attempt to secure their spot in the final four against 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup hosts Canada this evening. The Three Lionesses have never made it to a semi-finals in this tournament, and despite being in the quarter-finals for the third straight time, had a lot more work to do to get to this stage due to the recently expanded format to include 24 teams as opposed to the usual 16.
After bouncing back from an opening loss to France, Mark Sampson's ladies finished off Colombia and Mexico to secure their place in the round of 16, where they were paired with Norway. Although they fell behind to the 1995 World Cup winners, they were able to successfully rally back with goals from skipper Steph Houghton and defender Lucy Bronze to win their first ever knock-out game.
Meanwhile, like England, Canada had to fight tooth and nail to get to this juncture. After a tense 45 minutes of scoreless action against Switzerland, Josée Bélanger finally eased the pressure off the hosts with her 52nd minute effort. John Herdman's team have yet to hit a higher gear, despite finishing top of their group with one win and two draws. And captain Christine Sinclair, who is a 12-time Canada Player of the Year recipient also will be keen on finally hitting full stride as the striker has only netted once so far in this tournament.
Desiree Scott, who plies her trade in England, will be familiar with many of the faces in the English squad and has been solid for Canada so far. However, the Three Lionesses do have a wealth of attacking options that could potentially be Canada's toughest test to date. Despite still failing to open her account, Nigerian-born Eni Aluko's class is one not to be underestimated due to her excellent performances at club level for Chelsea Ladies. She has netted 19 goals in her last 30 international matches, with 13 of those in their qualifying games and is hungry to finally get her name on the scoresheet this summer.
The last two meetings between England and Canada have finished as 1-0 results, with the English drawing first blood by beating the Canadians during the 2015 Cyprus Cup Final. However, the hosts got some revenge by downing the Three Lionesses by the same scoreline during a pre-World Cup friendly at the beginning of this month.
Will England secure their spot in the final four for the first time in history? Or will Canada take one step closer towards earning their place in the much coveted final on July 5th? Expect this game to be a tense one from start to finish and if the two quarter-finals between Germany and France and USA and China were anything to go by, this one will be one fans will not want to miss!
England vs. Canada team sheets
Check back 1 hr before kickoff!
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