Women’s World Cup: Defending Champions USA knocked out by Sweden on penalties in Round Of 16
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By India Today Sports Desk: In an exciting Women’s World Cup knockout spherical match in Melbourne, Australia, Sweden triumphed over the United States after a tense penalty shootout. The recreation remained scoreless after 120 minutes of play, resulting in a nail-biting seventh spherical of penalties.
It was right here that Lina Hurtig of Sweden emerged because the star of the night time, scoring the decisive objective that nudged Sweden previous the United States. Despite U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher getting a contact on the ball, Hurtig’s shot crossed the road by lower than an inch, a truth confirmed after a tense video evaluation.
Megan Rapinoe additionally had an evening to overlook because the hero of the US Women’s National staff from the 2019 World Cup missed her spotkick on the night time.
Sweden, at the moment ranked third on the earth, will now face Japan within the quarterfinals in Auckland, New Zealand. This victory marks a big upset for the top-ranked United States staff, which had persistently reached the semifinals within the earlier eight World Cups and by no means completed decrease than third place. The U.S. staff was additionally vying for an unprecedented third consecutive title, a feat but to be achieved by any males’s or ladies’s staff.
The standout participant of the match was undoubtedly Swedish goalkeeper Zecira Musovic. She made a powerful 11 saves out of the 22 pictures taken by the American staff, whereas Sweden managed solely 9 pictures, with only one on the right track. Musovic’s distinctive efficiency included two essential second-half saves that stored the match scoreless in regulation time, together with stops on Alex Morgan and Lynn Williams within the first 10 minutes of additional time.
Despite the U.S. staff’s dominance by way of possession and pictures on objective, they had been unable to transform their alternatives into factors on the scoreboard. Trinity Rodman, specifically, put strain on the Swedish protection, forcing saves from Musovic within the 18th and twenty seventh minutes.
