Women’s World Cup: England beat Colombia to reach semi-finals
England needed to come from behind to beat Colombia at the Women’s World Cup and reach the semi-finals for the third time in a row.
Leicy Santos gave Colombia the lead when she lobbed Mary Earps, but Lauren Hemp hit back in first-half stoppage time as the teams went in level at the interval.
Alessia Russo scored the winner with 27 minutes remaining when she made the most of a deflection.
The Lionesses will play Australia in the semi-final on Wednesday, after they defeated France in a penalty shootout earlier.
England were without top-scorer Lauren James after she was sent off against Nigeria but had enough firepower to see off a Colombia side which defeated Germany in the group stage.
Colombia did cause problems for the England defence though, with teenage sensation Linda Caicedo once again impressing. Lorena Bedoya had a superb chance to level late on but her shot was tipped over the bar by Earps.
The Colombia goal was reminiscent of Ronaldinho’s 2002 World Cup lob over David Seaman. This time, Santos curled a lob over Earps from the corner of the penalty area into the far post.
A defensive mix-up ensured the teams were level before half time though. Colombia goalkeeper Catalina Perez spilled a loose ball for Russo to force the ball beyond her and give Hemp an east finish into the open goal.
England had their second when Georgia Stanway’s through-ball was not cleared and Russo fired into the far corner.
“I always try to work as hard as I can on the pitch,” said Russo.
“There is often sometimes a bit of luck in football.
“I was glad I took [the chance] when it came. I was in the right position and I was fortunate it went in the back of the net.”
England boss Sarina Wiegman praised the way her side coped with the physical nature of the Colombia attack.
“These are big games and it has some physicality too – for them and for us. That’s part of the game and we dealt with it really well,” said Wiegman.
“They got through it really well and got the win over the line. That was what we were trying to do and fortunately we did that.”
England will be looking to reach their first-ever Women’s World Cup final after losses to Japan in 2015 and USA in 2019.
Cover Photo: “three lions. away.” by William Brawley is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
