THE COLONY  VS.  THE COLONIZER

A Women's World Cup semifinal is the here and now for the Australia-England rivalry, not the Ashes

The Canadian Press
Tue, August 15, 2023 



BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — This is Australia’s Matildas against England’s Lionesses. The Women’s World Cup semifinals. The here and the now.

Both teams want to be clear, it’s not one of those clashes for the Ashes that have come to represent an intense international sporting rivalry dating back to the 1800s.

That began with the burning of some bails — small wooden pegs that sit atop cricket stumps — after a team of English gentry lost to a squad of colonial upstarts from Australia.

This is about an Australia team led by superstar striker Sam Kerr — who has been injured for most of the tournament but will play some part in the game — against England defender Millie Bright and her European champions.

Kerr and Bright are teammates at Chelsea and have combined to win titles for the London-based club, but they're playing off here for a spot in the World Cup final against Spain.

England lost semifinals at the 2015 and 2019 Women’s World Cups. Australia is into the final four for the first time, and aiming to be just the second host to win the title on home soil.

Women’s soccer has been making its own history in England, where the Lionesses’ run to the European Championship title in 2022 captured the nation’s attention. And it’s making history in Australia, where the Matildas have twice attracted crowds exceeding 75,000 in this tournament and will again on Wednesday night.

The 7-6 penalty shootout win over fifth-ranked France last Saturday in Brisbane was the highest-rating program on Australian television in 2023. Local media reported that the shootout pulled the biggest domestic audience for a sports event since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

As much as fans and the media have tried to frame it a fresh chapter in the Ashes, an England squad with a Dutch head coach and a Matildas roster with a Swedish head coach have repeatedly said their biggest rivalries in women’s soccer extend well beyond these two countries.

As soon as England had clinched a 2-1 comeback win over Colombia in the quarterfinals to ensure a match against Australia, coach Sarina Wiegman was asked what she knew about the Ashes rivalry. She said she’d check with the team and staff.

On Tuesday, at a pre-match news conference in Sydney that ran into the 21st minute of Spain's 2-1 semifinal win over Sweden in New Zealand, Wiegman said the feedback related to cricket and rugby and netball, and “we didn’t feel that rivalry that much.”

Bright said she couldn’t think of a previous England vs. Australia encounter, in any sport, sticking in her memory. What she's looking forward to is playing in front of a capacity crowd at Stadium Australia, despite knowing her opposition will have overwhelming support.

“As an England team there’s always pressure and it's something you embrace,” she said. “We've experienced moments like this, tense environments, big stadium, big crowd. We do thrive in those moments."

Bright recalled the extra lift big crowds gave England in the European Championship.

“It’s the semifinal. It’s the World Cup,” she said. “You want that environment, you want it to be intense, you want it to be noisy.”

England's only loss under Wiegman, who guided the Netherlands to the final in 2019, was against Australia in a friendly in April.

For 10th-ranked Australia, that 2-0 away win was part of a sequence that also included wins over Spain and France that boosted confidence.

While England went through the group stage with wins over Haiti, Denmark and China, and then beat Nigeria in a penalty shootout, the Australians had to rebound after losing 3-2 in the group stage and then having to beat Olympic champion Canada for a place in the knockout rounds.

The Matildas beat Canada 4-0, and then Denmark and France.

Tony Gustavsson, who was an assistant coach with the title-winning United States team in 2019, said No. 4-ranked England would probably start as the favorite with the bookmakers.

“If you look at rankings, they’re favorites. If you look at where their players play, they have starting players in top clubs and top leagues all over the world — not just 11, they have like 15, 16,” Gustavsson said. "If you look at resources financially, obviously they are a massive favorite going into this game.

“One thing that we have that they don’t have is the support and the belief from the fans," he said, "and that itself is going to be massive tomorrow.”

What Australia also has is an energized Kerr, who missed the group stage because of calf muscle injury she sustained on the eve of the tournament, and a team that has grown in stature because of her absence.

“The way she pushed through was fantastic and impressive both from a mental and physical aspect," Gustavsson said of Kerr's role as a second-half substitute against France. “She trained today, so she’s available.”

The Matildas have also played down the Ashes context of the showdown, but goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, the star of the shootout win over France, eventually responded after a repeated line of questioning about how it might feel being knocked out by England.

“Being knocked out by anyone is kind of unthinkable,” Arnold said. “There’s probably a lot of English people that would love to see us knocked out by England, but I think there’s more Australians that would love to see England knocked out by us.”

Spain beats Sweden 2-1 with last-minute goal and advances to its first Women's World Cup final

The Canadian Press
Tue, August 15, 2023



AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Spain will play for its first Women's World Cup championship after Olga Carmona's goal in the 89th minute lifted La Roja to a 2-1 victory over Sweden in the Tuesday semifinal.

Spain, which overcame last year's near mutiny by its players against coach Jorge Vilda, will play the winner of tournament co-host Australia and England on Sunday in the final in Sydney.

The controversy surrounding Spain dates to last September, when 15 players signed a letter complaining about Vilda and the conditions for the the national team. Three of those players are on this World Cup team, and Vilda a day before the game against Sweden praised the Spanish federation for its support.

Now, La Roja has a chance to become a first-time World Cup champion.

“This is a historic day,” said Vilda. “We’re in the final, that’s what we wanted.”

He again thanked the federation and its leadership for the support that has Spain one win away from the World Cup.

“The end result is a learning process which has made us all stronger in my opinion, and to leave it archived in the past and think about the future,” Vilda said through a translator. “And to think that we’re here because we deserve it.”

Carmona's goal capped a flurry of late scoring that saw Sweden tie the game, then Spain win it 90 seconds later on the surprise score.

Salma Paralluelo, the 19-year-old super-sub who also scored the game-winner in Spain’s 2-1 extra-time quarterfinals victory over the Netherlands, scored in the 81st minute to put Spain up 1-0. She gestured for the crowd to cheer, and the crowd thought it was celebrating Spain's decider.

But the celebration was brief. Rebecca Blomqvist tied it for Sweden in the 88th.

Then, just 90 seconds later, Carmona beat Sweden goalkeeper Zecira Musovic with the game-winner.

“It was really, really really crazy," Spanish defender Irene Paredes said. “After scoring the first one it was like, ‘OK, this is the end, we have to keep this score.’ But they scored quite fast and I was like, `What the hell happened?' But we had confidence that we could create something else."

Sweden has now lost in four of five semifinals and will try to finish third for a fourth time.

“I have to watch the game, I really do, before I can make any assessments,” said Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson. “Right now I am full of emotions. It is is the third loss in the semifinals. I think everyone just feels sadness and huge disappointment.”

Paralluelo became just the second teenager to score in a Women’s World Cup semifinal after Kara Lang of Canada in 2003, also against Sweden

“It was a magic moment. It is something very unique when I scored the first goal. To be able to repeat is really incredible," Paraluello said.

Spain is playing in only its third World Cup. Four years ago, La Roja advanced to the knockout round but lost to eventual champions the United States.

“Now it’s the final. I think we have to do what we’ve done in every match,” said Paralluelo. “We’ve overcome every challenge and now we face the ultimate challenge, the big one”

The Swedes have never won a World Cup. They were the 2003 runner-up and have finished third three times. Sweden won silver medals at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago, and at the 2016 Games in Brazil.

“I’m tired of crying big tournament tears,” said Kosovare Asllani. Sweden also lost in the semifinals of the Euros last September.

The Swedes swept their opponents in the group stage before knocking out two-time reigning champion the United States on a penalty shootout after a scoreless draw.

Sweden then got by previously unbeaten Japan 2-1 in the quarterfinals.

Spain fell to second in its group after a blowout loss to Japan, but rallied to beat Switzerland 5-1 and the Netherlands 2-1 to reach the semifinals. It was La Roja’s first appearance in a major semifinal since the 1997 European Championships.

Spain’s two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas made her third start of the World Cup. Putellas ruptured her ACL last summer and has been working her way back to full fitness. She came off the bench in the team’s last two matches.

Putellas, who replaced Esther Gonzalez in the starting 11, was subbed off in the 57th minute for teenage Paralluelo, who has now scored in two straight games.

Spain dominated possession and had the better chances in the first half. Carmona’s blast from the top of the box was a low shot went just wide. Sweden’s defense, which had allowed just two goals in the tournament, held.

Putellas nutmegged Filippa Angeldal before delivering a cross in the 35th minute but Magdalena Eriksson was there to clear it away.

Spain goalkeeper Cata Coll dove to save Fridolina Rolfo’s shot late in the half, then punched the ball away on a corner kick to keep the game scoreless at the half.

Sweden had energy to start the second half but Spain still had chances. Paralleulo’s header in the 63rd minute sailed over the goal.

Alba Redondo was on the ground in front of the goal but got a foot on the ball and appeared to score in the 71st minute, but she was just wide and the ball was caught up in the side netting.

There were a few tense moments when Paralluelo’s goal was checked by video review, but it was awarded.

After Carmona's goal, Spain's players piled on top of her near their bench.

There were 43,217 fans on hand for the match at Auckland’s Eden Park.

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup

Anne M. Peterson, The Associated Press