After defeating Australia 3-1 at Stadium Australia in Sydney on Tuesday, England Women advanced to their first FIFA Women's World Cup final.
The
Matildas were expecting to make history by being the first host nation to win the tournament, but England, who won the UEFA Women's EURO 2022 the year before, showed their class and poise in defeating them.
The Match
In the 36th minute, European champions scored first as Ella Toone volleyed in a cross from Lauren Hemp. Following Lauren James' suspension for her foul behavior against Nigerian defender Alozie, Ella Toone replaced her position on the field.
Australia, who had defeated England 2-0 in a friendly in April, leveled the score in spectacular manner in the 63rd minute when their captain and top scorer Sam Kerr launched a magnificent bicycle kick from outside the box that left England goalkeeper Carly Telford with no chance.
[caption id="attachment_8120" align="aligncenter" width="428"]
Australian Captain, Sam Kerr. | Credit: @B/R Football. | Source: Twitter[/caption]
Kerr scored one of the greatest goals ever seen at a World Cup, which was his seventh of the competition. Sam Kerr played in her first World Cup match since returning from a lengthy injury layoff.
Hemp scored for England after an error between Australian goalie Mackenzie Arnold and defender Alanna Kennedy in the 71st minute to give England the lead once again. Hemp, who was also named player of the match, assisted in the 86th minute, setting up Alessia Russo for an easy tap-in goal that would ultimately secure the win for England.
Russo's goal for England set up an all-European final match against Spain on Sunday.
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Alessia Russo's goal takes the lead. | Credit: @B/R Football[/caption]
Players' Remarks After Match
After the match, different
players expressed their thoughts:
England defender Lucy Bronze said:
"The one thing I've always wanted to do is get to a World Cup final.
"We played how we wanted to, we were determined, resilient. We knew the crowd would be crazy and we talked about silencing them and at the end we did that.
"It's been amazing to play against Australia, in Australia. What a fantastic tournament they had but we're in the final."
As Sarina Wiegman's team celebrated on the field, Lionesses icon Fara Williams exclaimed with joy:
"I can't even put it into words.
"I was up in the stands with Kelly Smith and we were just sat up there looking at the stadium. The noise in the stadium has been electric.
"We thought if only we had the opportunity to play in front of that many fans.
"A year ago in the Euros final at Wembley, I thought it couldn't get much better."
Australia gave their all but came short against the better side, England. The
Matildas fought hard until the end but can only gun for the third place against Sweden.
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Australia in one team spirit. | Credit: FIFA.com[/caption]
On Saturday, Australia will face Sweden for third place in Brisbane, while England plays Spain for a shot to win two major trophies in just under 13 months.
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