England roared into the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Euro on Thursday after coming back from two goals down and then beating Sweden 3-2 in a chaotic penalty shoot-out to continue their title defense.
Smilla Holmberg blasted over from the spot to settle the shootout drama in Zurich after the match finished 2-2 thanks to Lucy Bronze and Michelle Agyemang’s quick-fire strikes, just as England looked to be limping out of the tournament.
The reigning European champions were staring at elimination with 11 minutes remaining in normal time after Kosovare Asllani, who opened the scoring with her 50th international goal in the second minute, and Stina Blackstenius shot Sweden into a two-goal lead at half-time.
Photo: Reuters
“That was one of the hardest games I have ever watched. We could have been out four or five times,” England coach Sarina Wiegman said. “We started badly. We didn’t create anything so we changed shape and we scored two goals which was crazy. The shootout, we missed a lot but they missed more and we’re through.”
England are to face Italy, who are in the last four for the first time since 1997, in the semi-finals in Geneva on Tuesday next week after a rollercoaster comeback.
“Not how we planned it to be, of course, but it’s a learning experience that we put in our back pocket and learn from going forward,” said Chloe Kelly, who was key to both England goals and took one of the few good penalties of the shootout. “We solved the problems and then it was about getting back in the game. The resilience of the team is incredible.”
The defeat ended Sweden’s bid for a first major honor since winning the first official Euros back in 1984, with Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson’s team falling in the most painful of fashions.
Goalkeeper Jennifer Falk, who saved four penalties, had the chance to send Sweden through, but like Holmberg she scooped her effort over the bar and gave England the chance to reach the last four.
“All analysis feels fairly pointless right now, right now it’s melancholy. You feel a certain sadness that it turned out this way,” Gerhardsson said.
England scored 10 goals in their final two Group D matches to reach the last eight, but showed none of that attacking flair in the early stages at the Letzigrund Stadium.
Sweden were on the front foot from the off, and somehow it was no surprise when Asllani drilled home her opener after just one minute and 46 seconds, the attacking midfielder being left completely free to collect Blackstenius’ lay-off and score.
Jess Carter’s loose pass led to that goal, and moments later goalkeeper Hannah Hampton almost gifted Blackstenius her third goal of the tournament after miscontrolling the ball and allowing the Arsenal striker to bear down on an open goal, before Leah Williamson slid in to cut out the danger.
Lauren Hemp’s pot shot was brilliantly tipped onto the bar by Falk, but that was a rare bright spot in a dismal opening half for England, who were deservedly two behind at the break.
Blackstenius showed how lethal she can be in the 25th minute when she raced in behind a dozing English defense, collected Julia Zigiotti Olme’s pass, held off Carter and slotted home.
England were brighter after the restart and Hemp should have halved the deficit when she failed to direct Lauren James’ cross on target.
Bronze gave England hope by heading home a searching cross in the 79th minute from Kelly, one of four late substitutions alongside Agyemang, who two minutes later reacted quickest to a loose ball and prodded England level.
Extra time passed without much incident, and that left the shootout in which a parade of poor penalties ended with Holmberg ballooning her effort way over and sending England through.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Anastasia Potapova on Wednesday turned tennis heartbreak into history by becoming the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 semi-final with her thrilling 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova at the Madrid Open, as Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei exited in the women’s doubles quarter-finals. The Russian-born Austrian, who lost in qualifying last week, has capitalized on her unexpected main draw entry and stunned former world No. 1 Pliskova in a roller-coaster clash despite squandering three match points. Potapova’s run has included impressive victories over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina. Asked if she had thought
RSS