Thus, the semi-final curse has been broken for the English women, who in the last three championships have had to see themselves beaten just before a final. England had not beaten Sweden in a meaningful game since 1984 on the women’s side, and looked set to strike again early on when the “yellow and blue” dominated the first half hour. That was before Beth Mead dunked in 1-0 before the break. It was also to be the beginning of the end for the Swedes – who lost the EC semi-final 4–0. Mead, who was drafted into Hege Riise’s Great Britain squad for the Olympics last year, was the man of the match. In addition to scoring, she also had two assists on the goals of Lucy Bronze and Fran Kirby. England can thus cheer for a final ticket in a championship. They have not managed that feat in 13 years. Either Germany or France await in the EC final. They play their semi-final on Wednesday. HELT: Beth Mead was the big player of the match with one goal and two assists. Photo: MATTHEW CHILDS / Reuters – Oi, oi! Alessia Russo was responsible for the third goal, which must be said to be one of the match’s great highlights. – I feel confident. It happened on pure instinct and fortunately it worked. Now we will enjoy this evening before we shift our focus to the final at Wembley, Russo explains to the press. Russo heel-flipped the ball, with his back to the goal, between the legs of Sweden’s last defender Hedvig Lindahl. The score made several people roll their eyes. – Oh, oh! That audacity. If that had happened to me in training, I would have had to leave, says former England goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis on the BBC – I’m not going to lie, it was rude from Russo, wrote Chelsea player Sam Kerr on Twitter. – What have we witnessed?! announced the English team themselves on their Twitter account. Russo came on as a substitute just before the hour was played, and punctuated the match in many ways. – At first she misses her first chance, but then she just kicks the rebound in with her heel. No one expected it. It is completely surprising and she does it from an acute angle as well. It was very surprising, says news’s football expert Melissa Wiik WATCH: Alessia Russo heels in 3-0 for Eng heels kicks in 3-0 for England. Shaken England It was mostly about one team initially, despite the final result. The first ten minutes saw a packed Bramall Lane see Sweden create three big chances. England got away with the scare even before the minute had been played, when Stina Blackstenius came alone with Mary Earps. Sweden had good control for a long time and continued to control the game. That was before Mead got the opportunity inside the Swedes’ 16-metre box. A quarter of an hour before the break, Bronze found an unmarked Mead, who on the half bounce, pounded in the lead for England – against the run of play. – A nightmare for Sweden, of course, which has had a good first half hour, wrote Aftonbladet’s commentator Anna Rydén. MANAGEMENT: Beth Mead was ice cold in front of goal in the 1-0 goal to England. Photo: LINDSEY PARNABY / AFP Goal show The second half was also to be a nightmare for Sweden. Just over three minutes into the half, the roles were reversed when Mead assisted Bronze, who headed in to make it 2-0. The ball went between two legs, before finally ending up behind an outstretched Hedvig Lindahl. – What is very special is that Sweden covers the zone and Bronze is left alone and headers without pressure, Wiik said on news’s radio broadcast. Sweden had to bet after the score, and had several great chances later in the half. A good Earps in the England goal kept the Swedes from scoring, to “sweet brother’s” great frustration. Photo: MATTHEW CHILDS / Reuters Instead, it was England who were to increase the lead – and in a very elegant way. Alessia Russo followed up with a C moment when she heel-flipped the ball, with her back to the goal, between Lindahl’s legs. – It was very impressive and well done. She has had a very good break-in, said Wiik. Soon after, Fran Kirby punctuated the game with England’s fourth of the evening. Sweden has thus been knocked out of the championship for which they had golden ambitions.
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England broke the semi-final curse – scoring makes the football world gape – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
