The ABBA hit “Mamma Mia” roared out of the speakers, and the Swedes formed a large circle on the pitch and shouted their joy out into the Auckland night.
On the other hand, bitter tears flowed from Japan’s footballers, who surprisingly said goodbye to the World Cup after the 1: 2 (0: 1) in the quarterfinals against Sweden. Of the four previous title holders since the first edition of the World Cup in 1991, the last one left after Germany, the USA and Norway. Sweden will continue next Tuesday with the semifinals against Spain in Auckland (10:00 a.m. CEST).
“We fought so hard”
Japan’s captain Saki Kumagai was after the knockout. disappointed like her teammates in her fourth participation in the World Cup. “We fought so hard because we wanted to,” she said after 100 minutes of play. “Of course we wanted to get through to the next round.” After four convincing victories against Zambia (5-0), Costa Rica (2-0), co-favorite Spain (4-0) and most recently against Norway (3-1) in the round of 16, the Japanese dream of a second World Cup title after 2011 was shattered . “We will come back stronger,” promised Kumagai.
The Japanese had found their combination game too late against Sweden. Honoka Hayashi only scored the goal in the 87th minute, before Riko Ueki threw a penalty into the crossbar (76th). Amanda Ilestedt (32′) and Filippa Angeldal (51’/penalty) scored for the overall better Swedes in front of 43,217 spectators in Auckland. Like at the World Cup in France four years ago, the Scandinavians reached the semi-finals after beating Germany 2-1 in Rennes.
Coach Peter Gerhardsson was “in a really good mood” because of the triumph, which was not necessarily expected. The 63-year-old head coach, whose team had already shot record world champions USA out of the tournament on penalties in the round of 16, was delighted with a “really good performance”. “I think we controlled the game in a good way, especially in the first hour, were good at pressing and had good ball wins in midfield,” said Gerhardsson on ARD.
Now against Spain
“We expected Japan to be a technically very strong team that would have a lot of the ball,” said midfielder Kosovare Asllani. “Especially in the first half, we often won the ball and had good chances,” explained the 34-year-old, who hit the inside post of the Japanese goal shortly before the break. With a view to the semifinals against the strong Spaniards, she announced: “That’s what we want: we want to play against the best teams!”
After the 2-1 (1-1, 0-0) after extra time against the Netherlands, Spain paid homage to 19-year-old Salma Paralluelo, who made the semi-finals for the first time perfect in the 111th minute with a precise shot into the far corner. In front of 32,021 spectators in Wellington, Maria Caldentey (81st) and Holland captain Stefanie van de Gragt (90th 1/penalty) scored.
“It’s important for all of us,” Paralluelo said. “We made it. We fought to the end. We believed in ourselves.” Coach Jorge Vilda summed it up: “We’re continuing to make history. It was a game that was more difficult than it could have been.” His team “continued to fight” despite the Dutch side’s late equalizer in injury time.
