A second-half goal from captain Carli Lloyd put the United
States into the semi-finals of soccer's Women's World Cup on Friday with a 1-0
win over China.
The Americans, winners in 1991 and 1999, dominated their
Asian rivals from the outset with Lloyd nailing the winner with a header after
51 minutes.
The US next meet fellow two-time winners Germany for a place
in Tuesday's final.
Top-ranked Germany beat France 5-4 on penalties in Montreal
after their quarter-final had ended 1-1 following 30 minutes of extra time.
In a thrilling game at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, Louisa
Necib had opened the scoring for third-ranked France after 64 minutes but Celia
Sasic levelled with a penalty six minutes from time.
Claire Lavogez missed France's final penalty sending her
team out of the tournament.
France had dominated play in front of just under 25,000
spectators at the stadium in the largely French-speaking city of Montreal.
Necib, dubbed the "Female Zidane" of the French
women's team, had missed an early golden chance when - just 49 seconds into the
game - she fired left of goal.
The breakthrough finally came after more than an hour when
Necib picked up the ball from the edge of the box, firing into the net through
a deflection off German defender Annike Krahn.
But Sasic equalised when she converted a harsh penalty
awarded on 84 minutes after the ball was handled inside the area by France's
Amel Majri, slotting in her sixth goal of the tournament.
Champions Japan play 10th-ranked Australia in their
quarter-final in Edmonton on Saturday (0600, Sunday AEST), the same day England
tackle hosts Canada in Vancouver.
0 comments:
Post a Comment