Brisbane: Australia beat France 7-6 in a penalty shootout to advance to the semi-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. This is the first time in women’s World Cup football history that an Australian team has qualified for the semi-finals.
In one of the quarter-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup football series, Australia and France clashed at the Brisbane Stadium yesterday. Neither team scored a goal in the allotted 90 minutes. This allowed extra time. In the 10th minute, the French team got a corner.
Australian team defender Alanna Kennedy tried to block Vicky Pecho’s ball but her head turned into an own goal. But referee Maria Carvajal disallowed the goal. This was because France captain Wendy Renard grabbed the T-shirt of Australian forward Caitlin Ford, who was standing behind Alanna Kennedy, and pushed her down.
The Australian team, who were shocked to score an own goal, sighed at the referee’s decision. After this, the efforts made by both teams to score failed. The game remained scoreless at the end of overtime, 0-0. A penalty shoot out was then followed to decide the victory.
Both teams scored 4 goals in 5 chances. It was then decided to decide the victory in Sudden Death. Both teams scored consecutive goals. Both the teams scored in the first 3 chances. In the 4th chance, the ball was kicked by France’s Kenza Daly, which went off the crossbar. This gave the Australian team a chance to win. But Australia’s Clare Hunt missed the chance to score. France’s Vicky Pecho shot the next chance over the crossbar. But the Australian team converted their chance into a goal. Australia won 7-6 to advance to the semi-finals after Courtney Wynne’s kick flew into the net.
England freak: Another quarter-final match in Sydney pitted England against Colombia. England won 2-1 and progressed to the semi-finals. Lauren Camp (45th 6th minute) and Alicia Russo (63rd minute) each scored a goal for the team. In the semi-final round, England – Australia will play a multi-test.
