Norway stay in charge

The England women's manager, Ted Copeland, remained upbeat despite his side's 2-0 defeat by Norway in the Women's World Cup in Karlstad last night.

His side remain second in Group B following Canada's 3-3 draw with Nigeria, and will ensure qualification for the quarter- finals by beating Nigeria back in Karlstad tomorrow.

They might have to do so without the Arsenal striker, Marieanne Spacey, who picked up an injury in the 3-2 defeat of Canada in Helsingborg on Monday and managed only 34 minutes last night before going off with a dead leg.

This was always going to be a hard job for England, and they spent most of the game in their own half. Norway, European champions in 1993 and 1991 World Cup finalists, made their superiority count with goals from Tune Haugen, after seven minutes, and Hege Rise, after 37.

"We were rather jaded having to travel seven hours overnight to get to Karlstad from Helsingborg," Copeland said, "and the preparation for this game was hardly ideal, since we were unable to train because of the monsoon- type weather."