First-time winner to be crowned at World Cup after Spain, Sweden advance to semis

Sweden have ended Japan’s Women’s World Cup charge and won through to another semi-final with a 2-1 victory in Auckland.

Goalsneak defender Amanda Ilestedt was at it again, netting a first-half goal before Filippa Angeldal iced the victory with a second-half penalty.

Sweden’s Filippa Angeldal celebrates her goal in the quarter-final win.Credit: AP

After Riko Ueki’s missed spot-kick Japan did score a consolation, with Honoka Hayashi racing onto a failed block with three minutes remaining.

That goal ended Sweden’s run without conceding at 381 minutes.

However, after surviving 10 minutes of added time, the Europeans won the bigger prize: a semi-final against Spain back in Auckland on Tuesday night.

The result means the last remaining World Cup winner has been eliminated, and a first-time winner will be crowned in Sydney on August 20.

Until Friday night, world No.11 Japan looked a strong chance to repeat their 2011 glory, as the only side to have won all four of their matches in 90 minutes.

Instead, Sweden ended their campaign with a relentless press, harassing Japanese defenders into submission.

Nadeshiko couldn’t manage a shot for the opening hour, by which time the Swedes had put the game to bed.

The opener came on the half-hour mark, with Japan failing to clear four blocked or deflected shots, allowing Ilestedt to steal in and smash home from close range.

Stina Blackstenius and Nathalie Bjorn of Sweden celebrate their team’s triumph over Japan.Credit: Getty Images

The Arsenal defender’s goal puts her in the frame for an unlikely golden boot.

Ilestedt now has four goals, following her three group stage headers, and has only Hinata Miyazawa, now eliminated from the tournament, above her on five.

Sweden continued their assault and were denied a healthier margin by a pair of sensational saves from Ayaka Yamashita.

Before the break, she did enough to tip Kosovare Asllani’s volley onto the post, which ricocheted off the inside of the post and clear.

Yamashita was at full stretch to deny Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s effort early in the second half.

Sweden’s Magdalena Eriksson after her team’s win in Auckland.Credit: Getty Images

From that corner kick, the world No.3 grabbed their eventual winner, with Fuka Nagano unsighted and handballing, allowing Angeldahl to score her penalty.

Japan eventually came alive as Swedish legs – after 120 brutal minutes against the US in their round-of-16 clash – tired.

A feather-touch tackle by Sweden’s Madelen Janogy on Ueki brought the Japanese No.9 to the spot, only for her to thrash her penalty onto the bar.

Aoba Fujino then came extraordinarily close with a free kick that deceived Zecira Musovic, clattering off the bar and onto the goalkeeper’s head before bouncing clear.

As Musovic called for treatment, play resumed and Japan finally took a chance with Hayashi scoring an easy goal when an attempted clearance stopped the ball dead just five metres from goal.

There would be no equaliser, meaning Sweden have now made the last four in three of the past four tournaments.

Paralluelo late show puts Spain into World Cup semis for first time

Substitute Salma Paralluelo scored an extra-time winner to lift Spain to a nervy 2-1 victory over the Netherlands on Friday and into the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time.

The 19-year-old Barcelona winger broke the 1-1 deadlock when she latched onto a through ball, turned a Dutch defender inside and out and unleashed a shot that clanged off the post into the net.

“It means everything for me, it was a unique moment, great euphoria ... I’m extremely happy,” Paralluelo said.

The sixth-ranked La Roja, who had not advanced past the round of 16 in two previous two World Cup appearances, will face Sweden for a place in the final.

“We went to extra time, but the team kept on believing,” said coach Jorge Vilda. “They played on an extraordinary level, all players, and it was a match with a lot of emotional decisions, and the goal from Salma, it was sheer joy.”

All the goals came late in a tight game with Mariona Caldentey scoring Spain’s first from a penalty kick in the 81st minute after Dutch defender Stefanie Van der Gragt had handled the ball inside the box.

Against the flow: Spain’s Salma Paralluelo scores the winning goal.Credit: AP

Van der Gragt, in her final match before retirement, earned some redemption when she equalised in the 91st minute to send the contest to extra time in front of 32,021 fans at Wellington Regional Stadium.

The ninth-ranked Dutch, who were runners-up to the United States four years ago in France, became the latest tournament favourites eliminated in a tournament full of upsets, with the US, Germany, Canada and Brazil already gone.

The Dutch had goalkeeper Daphne Van Domselaar to thank for not falling behind in the 17th minute after she made a fabulous diving save to bat Alba Redondo’s close-range header onto the post.

The ball bounced back to Redondo, who pinged a second attempt off the same woodwork.

The winner: Spain’s Salma Paralluelo.Credit: Getty Images

Spain continued to dominate possession and appeared to have been rewarded with a goal in the 37th minute when Redondo had trouble controlling a cross in front of the net, but Esther Gonzalez poked it in from an offside position.

The Dutch were poised to celebrate a penalty in the 64th minute after Spanish defender Irene Paredes barged Lineth Beerensteyn over in the area but again VAR intervened.

“It should have been a penalty after all, but it still doesn’t mean that Spain didn’t win deservedly,” said Dutch coach Andries Jonker.

Beerensteyn had several excellent scoring chances late in extra time, but the Juventus striker fired one shot wide of the net and another just over the crossbar.

“That was the moment we should have taken a chance,” said Jonker. “Had we made it, we’d have been convinced to make it through the semi-finals and make it to the final.”

Spain’s historic progress comes despite an ugly player revolt in the build-up to the tournament.

Fifteen players declared themselves unavailable for selection in September, saying events with the national team had impacted their emotional and physical health. They directed the bulk of complaints at Vilda.

The Spanish federation backed the coach but only six of the mutineers returned to play at the World Cup.

AAP

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