Sarina Wiegman once again managed to reach a final of a big tournament. The national coach from the Netherlands defeated Italy (2-1) in the half final battle of the European Championship in Switzerland.
The Italian Barbara BonanSea seemed to be responsible with a goal for a long time for the elimination of the title defender in Geneva. But in the sixth minute, substitute Michelle Agyemang shot to an extension of the injury time. Then Chloe Kelly scored the winning goal in the final phase of the extension. She initially missed a penalty but used the rebound. England encounters Sunday in the final at the winner of the other half final battle between Spain and Germany, which is scheduled for Wednesday.
The 55-year-old Wiegman can therefore prepare himself for her fifth final battle of a big tournament in eight years. She won the last two European Championships with the Netherlands and England and lost the finals of the last two World Cups with those country teams. In the quarterfinals of this European Championship against Sweden, Wiegman also escaped elimination with her team. England then came back in the final phase of the regular playing time from a backlog of 2-0 and took the penalties better.
Racism
The English football players decided not to kneel just before the half final battle. They think they have not achieved insufficiently with that anti -racism in recent years. Defender Jessica Carter announced on Sunday that she was treated racist during this European final round. Wiegman did not let her appear on the kick -off, but according to her that mainly had tactical reasons. She thought Esme Morgan could better defend the Italian attackers. Carter also did not reach a high level in the quarterfinals against Sweden.
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Italy created fewer opportunities than England, but was more efficient than Wiegman’s team. In the 33rd minute, BonanSea used the first possibility of the team that eliminated Norway in the quarterfinals. Alessia Russo and Lauren James failed to score for England for peace.
After the break, the Wiegman team played at a higher pace. Lauren Hemp got a good chance to equalize but she also missed. Lucy Bronze also did not succeed in shooting in the English players to an extension. In the end, Agaremang caused a lot of relief at England in the 96th minute. She hit the bar in the final phase of the extension but then saw Kelly score. (ANP)