The phoney war is finally over and now England face a potentially tournament-defining night against the most dangerous of foes. They overcame the banana skin of South Korea in this crossover match for a last-eight place, winning via goals from Sophie Bray and Lily Owsley at either end of the match; it means hot favourites the Netherlands, free-scoring so far, lie in wait for Danny Kerry’s side on Thursday.
After a series of profligate group stage performances, England knew a fast start would aid their cause against opponents who had already conceded seven times to the Dutch. They came out flying and Alex Danson had already threatened when Bray struck in the ninth minute.
It took her two attempts to beat Hwang Hyeon-a after superb work from Sarah Haycroft and the celebrations were put on hold as Korea sought recourse to the video umpire. Their appeal, for a possible foul by Haycroft, failed and England had the platform they wanted.
That was the cue for England to assume near-total control and chances to increase their lead followed. Bray, Susannah Townsend and Danson – twice – all came close to a second, while there had been next to no threat from their opponents before half-time. By then, the shot count stood at 9-0 in England’s favour.
They were almost punished midway through the third quarter when Cheon Seul-ki forced an alert save from Maddie Hinch. It was tighter, tenser fare now, the Koreans more assertive and England more frayed. Danson came close to a breakaway goal but as the minutes ticked down the home side were increasingly under the cosh.
In a frantic finale Hinch saved brilliantly from An Hyo-ju and then, 60 seconds later, Owsley made the game safe. Her second goal of the tournament came with South Korea stranded upfield and she had the relatively simple task of rolling the ball into the open net from an angle.
“I really enjoyed the first half,” Kerry told the BBC afterwards. “We absolutely smashed it. In the second half, we lost some shape up front, but the first half was fantastic.
“I knew the second half would be cagey as fatigue set in, but I’m a pretty proud coach. We have a few things up our sleeve for the Dutch.”
England’s quarter-final will start at 6pm on Thursday. Immediately after it Ireland, one of the World Cup’s early success stories, will battle India for the last of the semi-final slots. India defeated Italy 3-0 earlier on Tuesday, Lalremsiami scoring early on before Neha Goyal and Vandana Katariya added goals in the second period.
Wednesday’s last-eight ties see Germany take on Spain in a rematch of their final Pool C fixture before Argentina, who have stuttered up to this point, face Australia.
