Hosts Sweden crushed Iceland 4-0 and holders Germany beat Italy 1-0 on Sunday to set up a semi-final encounter at UEFA Women’s Euro 2013.
Three goals in the opening 20 minutes put Sweden on course for an easy victory in blazing sunshine in Halmstad, Sweden.
Marie Hammarstrom put Sweden ahead after just three minutes, surging forward before firing a powerful left-footed shot across Iceland goalkeeper Gudbjorg Gunnarsdottir and into the net.
Photo: AFP
Gunnarsdottir was then at fault for Sweden’s second 11 minutes later, rushing out of her goal, but being beaten to the ball by Josefine Oqvist, who poked it past her to double the lead.
Lotta Schelin netted Sweden’s third five minutes later when she showed quick feet to nip in ahead of Gunnarsdottir and deftly turn Kosovare Asllani’s pass into the net from close range.
With Sweden cruising, Asllani set up Schelin again in the second half, the Olympique Lyonnais striker netting her fifth goal of the tournament as she toe-poked the ball home just before the hour mark.
In Vaxsjo, Sweden, Simone Laudehr scored the only goal of the game for Germany in the 26th minute as a clearance from a corner dropped to her and her first-time shot deflected off Italy’s Elisa Bartoli and into the net.
Germany face Sweden in the first semi-final in Gothenburg, Sweden, tomorrow.
Norway were taking on Spain and France faced Denmark in the remaining quarter-finals yesterday, with the winners meeting in the second semi-final in Norrkoping, Sweden, on Thursday.
The final is being held at the Friends Arena in Stockholm on Sunday.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB