New Delhi:
Netherlands defeated Sweden 1-0 in the semifinals to reach into the finals of FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 for the first time. In the game, which was dominated by defences, Jackie Groenen scored the winning goal in extra time by hitting a perfect shot into the bottom corner. They will now face the USA in the final.
Awarded player of the match, Groenen said: "I saw a nice angle. We’ve been discussing this for a couple of weeks now, that I need to take shots more often. The ball just came really nicely, and I thought, ‘Let’s do this'."
For Sweden, the match was a heart break as they had their chances but failed to capitalise. The scorecard was 0-0 in the alloted time and in the extra time, it looked that Sweden may attack but before they could blink, Groenen got the chances and she didn't miss it. For Sweden, they also made several mistakes in the game and once they even failed to demand a corner which they would have gotten.
Earlier, the Netherlands had reached the semi-finals of the women's World Cup for the first time in their history on Saturday after Vivianne Miedema and Stefanie van der Gragt scored in a 2-0 win over Italy in Valenciennes.
Netherlands will now lock horns with the USA in the finals. While the USA is seen as favourites, Netherlands too are the Europeon champions and have their fair chances to make history. On Tuesday, United States claimed a dramatic 2-1 victory over England in their women's World Cup semi-final after Steph Houghton missed the penalty in the pressure game.
