Sweden hold off Japan fightback to reach World Cup semi-finals

Sweden 2 Japan 1

Sweden held off a late Japan fightback to reach the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup for the fifth time with a 2-1 win at Eden Park on Friday, leaving the tournament without a former winner in the last four.

Five days after ousting four-time champions the United States in the last 16, the Swedes dominated the 2011 title winners for most of the evening to set up a semi-final against Spain at the same stadium on Tuesday.

Defender Amanda Ilestedt gave Sweden the lead with her fourth goal of the tournament in the 32nd minute with Filippa Angeldal adding the second from the penalty spot just after the break.

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Japan never gave up the fight but Riko Ueki missed a 76th-minute penalty and her fellow substitute Honoka Hayashi’s goal 11 minutes later proved too late as Sweden held firm under immense stoppage-time pressure to progress.

“It’s wonderful, obviously,” Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson told Swedish radio.

“The game had everything. In terms of performance, we had our best of the tournament. It got very exciting, Japan are one of the best teams in the tournament ...”

Japan coach Futoshi Ikeda said Sweden had done a fine job stifling his midfield but he thought his players should hold their heads high.

“Our players grew at the World Cup,” he said. “We lost this match but their work at this tournament is something that we should assess positively.”

The Swedes, charged with confidence after dethroning the reigning champion Americans on Sunday, tore into their opponents from the start, swamping the midfield and clearly rattling the Japanese.

For a team whose most potent attacking threat came from set pieces, it was no surprise that Sweden took the lead via a free kick.

The Nadeshiko were unable to clear their lines as the ball pinged around the box and centre half Ilestedt buried it into the net with the fifth Swedish shot in the sequence.

It was only the second goal Japan had conceded in New Zealand and the first time they had been behind but they were unable to break the stranglehold the Swedes had on them.

Sweden captain Kosovare Asllani almost doubled the lead just before the break but was denied by a combination of the fingertips of Japan goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita and the post.

Yamashita was quickly in action again at the start of the second half to tip away a Johanna Kaneryd shot but Fuka Nagano handled the ball from the ensuing corner and Angeldal made no mistake from the penalty spot.

Japan looked a pale imitation of the side that had romped in the quarter-finals and got their first attempt on goal in the 63rd minute.

They stuck to their task, however, and had a chance to cut the deficit when Ueki was bowled over in the penalty box by Madelen Janogy in the 75th minute.

The striker took the spot kick herself but was only able to clang the ball against the woodwork with her follow-up header going well over the bar.

Teenager Aoba Fujino’s free kick then hit the bar and goalkeeper Zecira Musovic’s head but somehow stayed out and Hayashi lashed the ball into the net from Japan’s next attacking move to set up a frenetic final 13 minutes.

Spain 2 Netherlands 1

While Spain were expected to lean on the experience of Alexia Putellas and others at the Women’s World Cup, it was teenager Salma Paralluelo who made a spectacular impact off the bench to send La Roja into the semi-finals for the first time.

The 19-year-old Barcelona winger decided a tense quarter-final in the New Zealand capital on Friday when she scored the extra-time winner in La Roja’s 2-1 win over 2019 runners-up the Netherlands.

The former sprinter showcased her speed for the goal, racing up the pitch before sidestepping a defender and firing a left-footed shot that ricocheted off the post and in.

“[Coach Jorge Vilda] told me to be sure that I was open for the passes, that I could be in the right spaces and to compete, compete as much as I could,” said Paralluelo.

“I had that opportunity and I was lucky to score so I’m very happy.”

Ballon d’Or winner Putellas, who has yet to have a major impact on the tournament as she returns to fitness after an ACL injury, burst into tears after the final whistle.

Paralluelo, who was born in Zaragoza to a Spanish father and Equatorial Guinean mother, made a memorable debut with the senior Spain team only last November, scoring a hat-trick in a 7-0 win over Argentina in a friendly.

She had been one of Spain’s top sprinters, competing at the European indoor championships in the 400 metres in 2019, before giving up athletics to focus solely on soccer.

“The goal from Salma, it was sheer joy,” said coach Jorge Vilda. “Salma is a player with enormous potential and she’s not reached her best yet.

“She’s a very young player who has been training one year in football specifically, and the best of Salma we’ll see it in the future. Now she’s excellent, but in the future it’s going to be much, much more.”

Sixth-ranked La Roja face either Japan, who they lost 4-0 to in the group stage, or Sweden on Tuesday for a place in the final.

Spain’s historic victory on Friday came despite a tumultuous few months in the run up to the tournament.

Fifteen players, including Putellas, wrote to the Spanish federation back in September saying they were withdrawing from the national team due to events that impacted their mental and physical health.

The accusations were levelled at Vilda, who received backing from the federation. Only six of the players returned for the World Cup.

“The federation and the president have always supported us, from the very first go,” said Vilda.

“Right now, I’m very happy because we think of all the management that we’ve had to do, and obviously [the World Cup] is not over yet.”