FRIDAY’S RESULTS
Celia
Sasic tied the score in the 84th minute, Nadine Angerer stopped Claire
Lavogez in the final attempt of a shootout, and GERMANY beat FRANCE on
penalty kicks, 5-4, in Montreal on Friday after a 1-1 tie to reach the
Women’s World Cup semifinals.
Germany, the 2003 and 2007 World Cup champion, will play Tuesday against the United States.
Louisa
Necib scored in the 64th minute for France, which enjoyed a dominant
first half but yielded a hand-ball penalty kick in the 84th for Sasic to
convert.
All
five kickers then found the net in the shootout for Germany, whose men
and women remain undefeated (5-0) in World Cup shootouts. Now, after a
win over No. 3 France in a matchup fit for a final, the top-ranked
German women have a chance to add another trophy to their case.
LOOKING AHEAD
JAPAN meets AUSTRALIA in Saturday’s first match. The Japanese, the
defending champions, were mesmerizing at times in their round-of-16 win
over the Netherlands — carving up the Dutch with one-touch passing,
give-and-gos and two goals that would have made any team proud. That
said, the Australians have been gaining strength throughout the
tournament and shut down another fancy-footed team, Brazil, in the last
round. The night game matches ENGLAND against CANADA, which has been
finding ways to advance without that most critical of soccer tools:
goals. The Canadians have three in four games, but they will have a
distinct home-field edge in Vancouver. Will that be enough? Perhaps. If
England’s women are anything like its men, they may want to avoid
penalty kicks.
Source : nytimes.com
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