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Women World Cup: Sweden stun Germany, meet Netherlands in semis

SWEDEN came from behind to stun Germany 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup at the weekend.

Germany looked well in control in the early stages of a spirited first-half under the blazing heat of Valenciennes on Saturday.

Lina Magull, who impressed throughout the first half, took advantage of a well-played ball by Sara Dabritz early on to give Germany the lead.

However, it was not long before Sofia Jakobsson levelled the score in an entertaining and pacey first-half as Sweden played out from behind exploiting a defensive weakness by the German side.

Germany brought on Dzsenifer Marozsan, who broke her toe in their opening match against China, at the start of the second half, hoping she could give them the edge. Though it was not enough to stop another period of pressure by the Swedes resulting in Stina Blackstenius’ second goal of the tournament in the 48th minute.

Germany fell somewhat flat after this as Sweden took control of the game, only reasserting pressure in the final ten minutes of the match.

The German side were perhaps unlucky to miss out on a penalty as the only VAR check of the match found Alexander Popp to be offside ahead of a challenge by Hedvig Lindahl’s over assertive efforts to clear the ball.

They maintained pressure in the final moments with youngster Lena Oberdorf making her presence known against the Swedish side, but it was not enough to equalise, giving a deserving Sweden a 2-1 victory and passage to the semi-finals.

Sweden will play the Netherlands in the semi-final on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s match between England v USA. – Eurosport

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