England, reigning European champion, is still alive! Led 2-0 by a solid Sweden, the lionesses released the claws in the last quarter of an hour to tear the draw before passing the shoulder at the end of a series of penalties during which the Scandinavians benefited from two opportunities to triumph (2-2 AP 3-2 TB). The English will face Italy on July 22 at the Stade de Genève.
CATASTROPHIC. England of Sarina Wiegman, who can therefore always offer himself a third consecutive continental title (at the head of the Netherlands in 2017, then from England in 2022), went completely next to her start of the match. Taken by throat by aggressive Swedes, the Englishmen gave in from the 2nd minute. The catastrophic pass of the unfortunate Jessica Carter was recovered by Stina Blackstenius who perfectly offset her captain Kosovare Asllani for the 1-0. The defender of the Gotham FC was filed a little more than twenty minutes later by the same Blackstenius. The teammate of Lia Wälti at Arsenal doubled the bet (25th) of a cross shot. A cold stroke in a closed window letzigrund (22’397) but mainly garnished with Lionesses supporters.
AWAKENING. Never really really in the last quarter of an hour, the Englishmen still spared a few opportunities with the spontaneous strike from Lauren Hemp, deflected on her transverse by goalkeeper Jennifer Falk (6th), Hemp’s head right next (51st) or even the bad choice of Ella Toone, too collective, in the 65th minute. But it is really in the last quarter of an hour, helped by some judicious changes, that they began to tear the Swedish lines. On a center jewel of the new entrant Chloe Kelly, Lucy Bronze rekindled the English flame (79th). Two minutes later, Michelle Agyemang arisen on a scramble to equalize.
Black series. The penalty session turned into a nightmare for the Swedes. While each of the two teams had scored twice before the tenth shot to the goal, the Falk goalkeeper failed to qualify the Scandinavians. She caught up by stopping the following test, but the experienced Sofia Jakobsson also missed this second semi-final ball. Bronze finally gave advantage to the English and the young Smilla Holmberg, former teammate of … Smilla Vallotto in Hammarby, saw his shot fly over the transversal. England has returned from afar, far even.
Zurich, Ludovic Perruchoud
