Sweden’s footballers have reached the semi-finals of a European Football Championship for the ninth time with a goal in the last second. The Olympic bronze medalist defeated the blatant outsider Belgium 1-0 (0-0) in Leigh with some difficulty and is now challenging hosts England in Sheffield on Tuesday.
Linda Sembrant (90 + 2) scored in the pouring rain for Sweden, which had recently been hit by three corona cases and several suspected cases.
The Belgians put up a big fight against the favorites in their first knockout game at a major tournament, but just missed out on the potential upset.
The 7517 spectators saw a one-sided encounter from the start. Sweden, who won their only title at the first ever women’s European Championship in 1984, created numerous chances without reward.
A goal by Stina Blackstenius (24th) was disallowed after studying the TV pictures because the Swede was millimeters offside. At the break the goal shot ratio was 15:1 for Sweden.
The favorite also dominated in the round, but acted increasingly unimaginative. Only Sembrant made everything clear shortly before the end.
