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.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
PAINFUL VICTORY: Ruud said that felt pain in his rib during the warmup and was put on painkillers so that he could finish the match against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo With the help of painkillers, Casper Ruud overcame a rib ailment to defeat Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets and reach the Madrid Open final on Friday. Ruud is to face Jack Draper, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semi-final to make his third final of the year. Ruud received treatment on his rib three games into the match and went on to win 6-4, 7-5 on the Caja Magica center court. The 15th-ranked Norwegian saved 15 of the 18 break points he faced against the 21st-ranked Argentine. Ruud said he felt something in his rib during the warmup, just before
RSS