AS SEMIS CLASH LOOMS, ENGLAND DARES AUSTRALIA: ‘BRING IT ON’
SYDNEY—The pressure is on World Cup cohosts Australia in Wednesday’s semifinal against England, the Lionesses’ midfielder Keira Walsh said, as both sides seek a first ever appearance in the final of the global tournament.
Lauren Hemp, the England forward who scored the equalizer in her team’s 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Colombia, turned on even more pressure on the Matildas: “Australia, bring it on.
“It’s going to be a packed stadium with so many Australian fans, but we know if we play at our best we are unstoppable,” she added.
European champion England, who beat Colombia 2-1 in a febrile atmosphere in Saturday’s quarterfinal, have been one of the favorites throughout the tournament.
However, the Matildas carry the hopes of expectant Australians who have set attendance records and tuned in by the millions to watch their team’s run to the last four.
“The pressure is on Australia, that is a different thing to cope with. But they are a great team, whether they feel the pressure or not,” Walsh told reporters at the team’s base in Terrigal on Monday. “The way they play they don’t look like they feel it. They are very physical and we have to be ready for that. It’s just about going in confident and playing on the front foot.”
The game has received an enormous amount of hype Down Under, playing on the historic rivalry between the two nations.
But pressure or none, Australia feels that it has the right mix of players to thrive in the enormity of the moment.
The Matildas assistant captain, Steph Catley, said she and her teammates were “just primed for this moment.”
“We’ve got a perfect little balance of a core group that understand the gravity of the situations and a small group of younger players who might not understand the gravity, which is kind of bliss,” she told reporters. “You’ve got their confidence and their flair, and then we’ve got mature [players] bringing an understanding to moments like that.”
England coach Sarina Wiegman is the last woman coach still in contention and she is hoping to end three straight semifinal exits by the Lionesses.