By Samindra Kunti in Sydney
August 16 – On a historic night, a clinical England weathered the Matildas and Sam Kerr with a controlled and deserved 3-1 victory to progress to the Women’s World Cup final for the first time.
It was England’s best performance of the tournament yet, composed and imperious, a victory seemingly never in doubt after they had ground out results against Nigeria and Colombia.
At Stadium Australia, England mastered their opponents and the emotions of a mammoth night for Australian sports, the Matildas’ first Women’s World Cup semi-final. On Sunday, the Lionesses can crown their tournament and the Sarina Wiegman era with a maiden World Cup title, taking on Spain in the final.
The margins were fine. In the 85th minute, with Australia trailing 1-2, Sam Kerr somehow skewed her volley wide from a few yards out, turning anti-hero for a brief moment because moments later Alessia Russo decided the match with England’s third at the other end, following superb centre-forward play from Lauren Hemp, holding up play and then spinning and releasing her strike partner.
There was much to admire in England’s match, from the tactical application to the execution of the game plan across the field.
For Australia, the defeat was devastating, but ultimately a place among the last four represents a successful tournament for the co-hosts. The Australian nation embraced the Matildas like never before. Some called the semi-final the most momentous sporting night since Cathy Freeman sprinted to gold at the same venue at the 2000 Olympic Games, a moment that united a nation and recast race relations briefly, but on Wednesday there was to be no new chapter to local sports history.
From the onset, it was, as predicted, a classic possession-counterattack proposition. England dominated the ball and the hosts, playing in a classic 4-2-2 with the talismanic Sam Kerr starting for the first time in the tournament, lurked on the counter. The striker was released early on, but flagged offside, to a wall of noise in Sydney.
Parallels with other sports were drawn to big up the sporting rivalry between England and Australia, but amid all the brouhaha, the English were not overwhelmed. Instead, the European champions controlled the midfield and thus proceedings, taking the sting out of the match and any momentum Australia carried from the quarter-finals.
Their slow build-up play produced opportunities for Georgia Stanway and Russo during the opening exchanges. It was the number 23 who set up Ella Toone and her superb 36th-minute finish into the top right corner silenced the Australians. The English were buoyed and took a deserved 1-0 advantage into the dressing room.
Had the hosts, after three clean sheets in three do-or-die matches against Canada, Denmark and France, their breakthrough moment, been found out at last? They were 45 minutes away from elimination and seeing their dream shattered. Could they get more of a foothold in the second half?
Mary Fowler dropped deep and with nimble footwork jinxed her way past opponents, but it was hard to see where Australia would score from and, then, just past the hour mark, with England still in firm control, it happened. Kerr, who has long terrorised English defenders in the WSL, received possession, ran at Bright and delivered a fabulous finish from 25 metres out, prompting a small earthquake in Sydney.
With the score level, Kerr seized the moment, driving at defenders and testing Mary Earps with a glancing header. The goal however fell at the other end, England demonstrating how clinical they were yet again, Lauren Hemp exploiting Ellie’s Carpenter poor defending. This time there would be no coming back for the hosts.
England will be favourites to win the tournament when they take on Spain in the decider. It will be Wiegman’s second consecutive World Cup final after guiding the Netherlands to the showpiece match in Lyon four years ago.
Then Wiegman and Oranje were second best to the United States. Her team this time however have an air of invincibility. For the first time since 1966, an England team is into a football World Cup final.
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