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First World Cup semi-final - USA in luck - Sport
England awarded late in the first World Cup semi-final in a 1: 2 penalty against defending champion USA, who must replace the injured Megan Rapinoe in the short term.
The American footballers are in the final of a World Cup for the fifth time. The defending champion beat Lyon 2-1 (2-1) on Tuesday evening in the high-caliber and thrilling semi-finals of England and face either European champions Netherlands or Germany defeated Sweden in the final of the World Cup in France next Sunday (5pm) ,
In front of almost 60,000 spectators at the sold-out Stade de Lyon, Christian Press (10th minute) and Alex Morgan (31st) scored the goals for coach Jill Ellis on their thirtieth birthday. Ellen White (19th) met in the meantime for England to 1: 1 (19th). The English women will contest the match for third place on Saturday.
In both teams there were big surprises in the starting eleven. US star Megan Rapinoe, who had last made four appearances in the knockout rounds, did not even warm up with the team. She should have suffered a thigh injury in the final training. For her, Press joined the team. And in England, Carley Telford moved for Karen Bardsley for the second time at the World Cup in goal. The Americans started as expected with a lot of speed. England were not particularly impressed by either the quick 0: 1 or the 1: 2. Crucial was that opportunities remained scarce - and that US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher parried a weak kick from England captain Steph Houghton (84).