England ends Australia's party, will meet Spain in Women's World Cup final
CBC
Lauren Hemp didn't let the Women's World Cup semifinal between Australia and England become the Sam Kerr show.
Hemp scored to restore England's lead and then provided a perfect pass for the clincher as the Lionesses moved into their first World Cup championship game with a 3-1 victory Wednesday over Australia.
The semifinal outcome ended the Matildas' captivating run through the tournament that Australia is co-hosting with New Zealand, and it ensured England will get a chance to bring a World Cup home for the first time since 1966 when the Lionesses meet Spain on Sunday.
On either side of that, she guided Netherlands to the European title in 2017 and then took over the England squad for its breakthrough Euro 2022 title.
"I'm the lucky one — the last two tournaments I'm going to the final," said Wiegman, the only female head coach of any team to reach the quarterfinals. The equation is now one out of two.
"You make it to finals, it's really special," she said. "I'm like, 'Am I here in the middle of a fairytale or something?"'
England dominated possession in the first half, starving the Australians of the ball and shutting down the Matildas' transitional, counter-attacking game.
It was rewarded when Ella Toone scored in the 36th minute with a powerful right-foot shot diagonally inside the far post. A throw-in from Rachel Daly went to Hemp, who turned and sent it into the area where Russo turned it back past Hemp for Toone to swoop.
Australia superstar Kerr started her first match of the tournament after overcoming a left calf injury and scored for the Matildas, but it wasn't enough to overhaul the European champions.
Her equalizer in the 63rd gave the 75,784-strong crowd some hope, but Hemp scored to restore England's lead in the 71st and provided a perfect through ball for Alessia Russo to finish from a tight angle on the right side four minutes from the end of regulation.
"Even after Sam's goal there was no fear in the squad. We weren't nervous. We just played our football," Hemp said. "I think we showed the relentlessness inside the squad to make it 2-1. And then even when we're on the backfoot there going into the final few minutes, I felt like we showed calm, composure on the ball to manage to counterattack them and obviously make it 3-1. "
England and Spain will each be playing in the Women's World Cup final for the first time when they meet at Stadium Australia on Sunday. It will be the first all-European final since 2003.
Australia will play Sweden, which lost 2-1 to Spain in the other semifinal, for third place on Saturday in Brisbane.
"We wanted to dominate the game, we didn't do that. And we wanted to probably create more scoring opportunities and we didn't do that," Australia midfielder Katrina Gorry said, reflecting on her 100th game for the Matildas. "But you know, we've got a quick turnaround and we want to win the bronze medal."
