Sweden held off a late Japan fightback to reach the semifinals of the Fifa Women's World Cup for the fifth time with a 2-1 win at Eden Park on Friday, leaving the tournament without a former winner in the last four.
Five days after ousting four-time champions the US in the last 16, the Swedes dominated the 2011 title winners for most of the evening to set up a semifinal against Spain at the same stadium on Tuesday.
Japan never gave up the fight but Riko Ueki missed a 76th-minute penalty and her fellow substitute Honoka Hayashi's goal 11 minutes later proved too little, too late as Sweden held firm under immense stoppage-time pressure to progress.“The game had everything. In performance, we had our best of the tournament. It got very exciting, Japan are one of the best teams in the tournament.”
Stina Blackstenius should have put them ahead in the 25th minute when she got in front of Japan's defensive rock Saki Kumagai, only to poke her shot wide from point-blank range. The Nadeshiko were unable to clear their lines as the ball pinged around the box and centre-half Ilestedt buried it into the net with the fifth Swedish shot in the sequence.
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