OTTAWA, (Reuters)-England defender Lucy Bronze scored from long range to give her side a 2-1 win over Norway in a second round Women’s World Cup game yesterday and set up a quarter-final clash against hosts Canada.The two technically skilled European sides largely cancelled each other out in the sweltering heat and sixth-ranked England had to wait until the 76th minute to take the lead, Bronze thumping home a fine shot from 22 yards out.
England will now play Canada on Saturday in Vancouver.
With temperatures on the pitch hovering around 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in the first half, the players adopted a slow pace at the start and the game only picked up in the second half.
Norway’s Solveig Gulbrandsen broke the deadlock in the 54th minute, getting her head to a corner at the near post and flicking the ball in off the bar.
England equalised from a corner in the 61st minute when captain Steph Houghton outmuscled two defenders to score with a fine header of her own.

By David Ljunggren