Australia 1-3 England (Kerr 60’ | Toone 36’, Hemp 71’, Russo 86′)
SYDNEY — Football had already come home for Australia. For England who have had to cope with Keira Walsh’s knee, the studs of Lauren James’ boot, and every other tribulation withstood over the last four weeks, this meant just as much. A World Cup final beckons and potential glory awaits.
With the run, the side-foot and the assist for Alessia Russo, Lauren Hemp had tirelessly won the war. She had already played her part, pouncing on Ellie Carpenter’s floundering and precisely picking past Mackenzie Arnold. Hemp deserves every inch of the plaudits she will receive, a bridesmaid of the Euros triumph and now the main event.
A night for unexpected heroes, if there were one player to embody the battle, the triumph-against-the-odds mindset that has ensured England will be back here on Sunday to face Spain, it was Ella Toone.
At this tournament she has been lambasted, dropped, reinstated and now scored one of the goals of her life for the opener. Her finest right slice into the top of the net since Wembley, Russo had done superbly to keep the ball in with a high boot, before the mini-dummy from Hemp.
To think, it was not even close to being the goal of the night. Cometh the hour, cometh the Sam. Sarina Wiegman had been adamant “Australia are not just Sam Kerr” but with just their second shot on target, the world’s greatest No 9 sent her strike soaring past Mary Earps. She had run and run and run at her Chelsea teammate Millie Bright and just for that moment, it felt as if the bubble Australia has been basking in for the last four days was never going to burst.
This will not be the last we see of these majestic Matildas. They have come too far to turn back now. It was not so much about an old enemy but new memories, their first ever World Cup semi-final. What a ride it was.
Tony Gustavsson, a Swede on the sidelines belting out “Advance Australia Fair” as loudly as any of the 75,000 inside the ground and the tens of thousands outside, stood with a blank expression that betrayed a quiet nerviness that the impossible dream was about to end. England had every reason to be fearful too; they have been here twice before in 2015 and 2019 and suffered heartbreak every time.
Against a backdrop of crushing defeats to Japan and the USA in those tournaments, somehow this felt like the most formidable opponent yet, an entire nation in the midst of a football revolution. If you watched much of the Ashes, they don’t mind being “boring, boring Aussies” one bit as they dropped in deep, praying so desperately for one last push.
Kerr same so close to providing it on her first start of the tournament. Walsh immediately set out to leave her regretting it. A foot left in late, a high boot from Jess Carter. Purely accidental, naturally.
On a night for mind games, Earps roared at the sky when she won her first mental scrap with the tournament’s poster girl. It was not the one that counted, but as she blocked the on-rushing Kerr as she raced past Bright and Carter it was an early vindication of her mistake against Colombia.
With each touch, every Lioness found themselves public enemy number one. Booed onto the pitch, the worst was reserved for Alex Greenwood, who earned one of the biggest jeers of the night for hauling down Kerr. These two countries are not “rivals”, so insisted both camps in the build-up, but tell that to a baying crowd who scented England’s downfall as much as Aussie glory.
Togetherness helps, but it is not how football matches are won. When England tried to kick off, they had been forced to wait while their opponents completed a lengthy inspirational huddle. The Lionesses had an unsettling tactic of their own called keeping the ball.
Arnold showed why a street in Melbourne has been unofficially named after her in the wake of her shootout stardom against France. The full-stretch dive to keep out Hemp’s curler was her finest but even she could not stop this England machine.
Alessia Russo takes England one step closer to the World Cup final!
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 16, 2023#FIFAWWC #ENG #AUS pic.twitter.com/e8j4sz783b
This one will hurt for a while.
England, though, will always find a way. What they have achieved in reaching this final is arguably every bit as impressive as winning the whole European Championship, given the circumstances, and considering they are without three of their best players.
For now, Spain can wait. This was another moment of greatness itself, and England deserve a little basking of their own as they waltz past the Matildas all the way to the final.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/ochbUvJ
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