Sweden, Netherlands complete semifinals
RENNES, France — With Germany out of the way, Sweden believes it could win it all.
Stina Blackstenius scored the go-ahead goal minutes into the second half and Sweden surprised Germany with a 2-1 quarterfinal victory Saturday night at the Women’s World Cup. It was Sweden’s first victory over Germany in a major tournament in 24 years, and it sent the ninth-ranked Swedes into the semifinals against the Netherlands.
“We’re going to go for it,” Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson said.
The second-ranked Germans, who won back-to-back World Cup titles in 2003 and 2007, were the presumptive favorites on their side of the bracket. Instead, they head home. Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said her team seemed to lose focus.
“We knew it was going to be difficult,” she said. “We shall not let this bring us down. We have to make sure this process goes on despite the defeat, to keep on growing, to gain strength and channel this negative experience into something positive and to learn our lessons from it.”
Sweden’s last win over Germany in a major tournament was in the group stage of the 1995 World Cup.
“We knew we had a chance, and then of course we had to play our best game of the tournament to be able to beat Germany,” Gerhardsson said. “So I’m not surprised, but I knew we had to play and perform at our best on the offense and the defense. And I think we did.”
Lina Magull’s fantastic finish on a half-volley put Germany up in the 16th minute, with Sara Daebritz setting up the goal that veteran Sweden goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl couldn’t get to. Sweden’s Sofia Jakobsson tied it in the 22nd minute with a strike that went under the outstretched leg of German goalkeeper Almuth Schult.
Blackstenius scored on a rebound off Fridolina Rolfo’s header just about three minutes into the second half to break the stalemate.
THE NETHERLANDS 2, ITALY 0
The Oranje procession will roll into a Women’s World Cup semifinal for the first time.
The parade of fans, covered head to toe in orange, the brass band — and, of course, the freekick specialists on the field.
In the sweltering afternoon heat in Valenciennes, the Netherlands relied on a pair of headers off free kicks by Sherida Spitse to beat Italy in a quarterfinal game.
Vivianne Miedema scored off Spitse’s delivery from the left side in the 70th minute to claim her 61st goal in 80 appearances for the Netherlands.
“In the end, people expect me to score goals,” Miedema said. “That header, I had a good feeling.”
So did Stefanie van der Gragt 10 minutes later, powering in a towering header when Spitse swung in a free kick from the right.
“I had the strength to get the ball in the right place,” Spitse said. “Our football, we could also play a little bit more and could score goals but it’s nice to score from set pieces as well.”
Four years ago, the Dutch made it to the round of 16 but laid the foundations to win the European Championship in 2017.
“I didn’t expect to be in the semifinals of this World Cup,” Miedema said. “We’ve been complaining that we’re not playing the best football but in the end we’re in the semis.”