Germany and the Netherlands on Tuesday booked their places at the UEFA Women’s Nations League finals , where they are also to fight for spots at next year’s Paris Games, but there was heartbreak for England whose hopes of competing in the Olympics were dashed, despite beating Scotland 6-0.
Germany drew 0-0 in Wales, but secured their passage thanks to Iceland’s 1-0 win over Denmark.
The Netherlands needed a 95th-minute goal from Damaris Egurrola to see them to a 4-0 win over Belgium which meant they edged England on goal difference in Group A1 after the FIFA Women’s World Cup runners-up hammered Scotland in Glasgow.
Photo: AFP
The Netherlands and Germany join France and world champions Spain in the semi-finals, which take place in February. The two finalists are to qualify for the Olympics. If France, who are guaranteed a place as hosts of the Games, reach the final, the team winning the third-place playoff would also progress.
England, who were hopeful of gaining an Olympic place for a Great Britain team which would have included their Scottish opponents, and the Netherlands went into the final round of games level on points, but with the Netherlands holding a two-goal advantage.
England quickly laid on the pressure, with Alex Greenwood and Beth Mead bracketing two goals in two minutes from Lauren James to give them a 4-0 halftime lead.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands were only leading 1-0 through a 34th minute goal from Lineth Beerensteyn. England compounded their position when Fran Kirby added a fifth four minutes into the second half.
At that point, England had a two-goal advantage over the Netherlands, but they then ran into some determined defense from Scotland who also went close, forcing a fine save from Mary Earps.
Beerensteyn added a second to give the Netherlands hope, but the evening changed dramatically in stoppage time.
First, Egurrola found the back of the net to give the Netherlands the advantage. That was followed by Lucy Bronze scoring a sixth for England but, even as they were celebrating, Egurrola snatched a second in Tilburg to send the Netherlands through.
Coach “Sarina [Wiegman] made sure we knew what was happening, and we knew what we were supposed to do,” Mead said. “We got the goals late on, we thought we had maybe gotten over the line, but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be.”
Germany were level on 12 points with Denmark in Group A3 going into the game, although their better head-to-head record meant they simply needed to match Denmark’s result against Iceland.
In the end, Denmark fell short, with Karolina Vilhjalmsdottir, who plays in the Bundesliga for Bayer 04 Leverkusen, where she is on loan from Bayern Munich, striking in the 77th minute in Viborg to give Iceland a 1-0 win.
Germany struggled to get a grip on their game against Wales and in the end were fortunate to come away with a point.
“I thought we were the better team. We had the better chances and hit the post so, overall, I’m very pleased,” Wales manager Gemma Grainger told the BBC. “It’s a real moment when you say we had the better chances against Germany.”
However, Wales finished bottom of the group with a single point and were relegated to Group B.
World champions Spain had already qualified for the finals as Group A4 winners and were missing the injured Alexia Putellas, which might have accounted for their sleepy start against Sweden.
Julia Zigiotti Olme put the visitors ahead in the first minute after non-existent defending at a corner. Salma Paralluelo leveled 10 minutes later, but more slack defense allowed Kosovare Asllani and Stina Blackstenius to put Sweden 3-1 up after half an hour.
Athenea del Castillo pulled one back for Spain, who then turned the game around with three goals in the last 12 minutes, two from Mariona Caldentey, the other from Fiamma Benitez, to win 5-3.
Group A2 winners France, who had also booked their place in the finals, earned a hard-fought 1-0 win in Portugal, thanks to Grace Geyoro scoring the winner in the third minute of additional time.
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