Sweden, Spain meet for spot in World Cup Final on TSN
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Two European heavyweights collide in Auckland for a spot in the 2023 Women's World Cup Final with Sweden looking to return to another final and Spain trying to keep their dream run going.
Sweden has reached a fifth World Cup semi-final and second straight on the back of an impressive win over Japan - perhaps the remaining favourite in the tournament - by a score of 2-1. Arsenal's Amanda Ilestadt opened the scoring with her fourth goal of the tournament in the 32nd before Manchester City defender Filippa Angeldahl converted from the spot in the 51st following a Japan handball to make it 2-0. During a frantic final few minutes, Honoka Hayashi got Japan on the board in the 87th, but an equalizer wasn't to come. The match marked the second straight former champion Sweden sent home following their Round of 16 victory over the defending champion United States.
The Blagult have been here before and in only one of their four previous appearances in a World Cup semi-final have they moved on - that came in 2003 in the US where they ultimately fell 2-1 to Germany after having opened the scoring. At the inaugural World Cup in China in 1991, in Germany in 2011 and in France in 2019, Sweden's tournament ended with a semi-finals loss. Heartbreak seems to be in Swedish football's DNA in recent years with a semi-finals exit at Euro 2022 and back-to-back losses in the gold medal game at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Can this Sweden team flip the script?
“We know if will be really tough, but we beat the US, we beat Japan,” forward Fridolina Rolfo, who plays her club football at Barcelona, said. “This gives us a lot of confidence. Now we have another excellent team to play, but we have a lot of confidence right now. I can’t promise that we will beat Spain, but I can promise that we will give it everything. I think if we play like we did against Japan, we have a big chance of reaching the final. We’ve come close [to a World Cup before]. Now we want to win this title for Sweden and the Swedish people."
Veteran Milan midfielder Kosovare Asllani thinks a match against Sweden will make for an unpleasant evening on the pitch for La Roja.
“They’re a really skillful and technical team,” the 34-year-old Asllani said of Spain. “We have a lot of respect for them and the way they play. There are definite similarities there with Japan and we’ll need to approach it in exactly the same way, with exactly the same mentality in the team. We did it together against Japan, pressed as a team, were aggressive in our duels. If we do that again, I think we’ll give Spain a hard time. They shouldn’t enjoy playing against us."
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd agrees with the assessment that Spain presents a similar challenge that Nadeshiko Japan did.
“We talked about the physical part before the Japan game, about how we’re at our best when we’re physical, aggressive and win the ball high up the pitch,” the Chelsea midfielder said. “It will be the same against Spain. We have to keep working on this and make sure we really put a lot of pressure on them, like we did against Japan. Spain are a quality team, good with the ball, always playing small passes, so I think it will be quite similar to playing Japan."
Spain heads to their first ever semi-final after a most dramatic victory over 2019 finalists, the Netherlands, in extra time. The fact that the match made it to an extra 30 minutes could be chalked up to two things - the incredible play of Dutch goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar and Spain's failure to turn their bossing of the match into anything tangible in the first 80 minutes. In the 81st minute, a VAR check confirmed that Stefanie van der Gragt handled in the area and La Roja was awarded a penalty. Stepping up to take was Barca forward Mariona Caldentey, who hammered home off of the inside of the post to give the Oranje a deserved opener.
But van der Gragt would quickly go from goat to hero for the Oranje. In the frenetic closing minutes as the Oranje pushed for an equalizer, they found it through the 30-year-old centre-back who fired home from close range in the first minute of stoppage. With a growing certainty that spot kicks would be needed, Salma Paralluelo had other ideas. Streaking down the left on a counter, the 19-year-old Barca forward powered home a booming shot in the 111th minute as La Roja held on for the 2-1 win and a trip to the final four.
Spain's 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Spain in their group-stage finale seems like eons ago.
“We’re now among the best four teams in the world, but we’ve come here to be the best," Caldentey said. "We’re happy because we are where we wanted to be. Maybe people didn’t give us much of a chance after the Japan game, but I think against the Netherlands we really sent out a message. We’ve come here to win the World Cup and we’re two games away from doing it.”
Neither team heads into the match with a disciplinary suspension, but fitness is a concern on both sides with a couple of players. For Spain, both influential midfielder Aitana Bonmati and her Barca teammate, defender Laia Codina, are dealing with muscular injuries, but are both expected to play. On the other side of the pitch, captain Caroline Seger is unlikely to feature as she continues to deal with calf discomfort.
The winner of Tuesday's match will earn a berth in Sunday's final against the winner of England and hosts Australia.