FIFA Women's World Cup: Netherlands defeat Sweden, enters finals

Netherlands defeated Sweden 1-0 in the semi-finals of the ongoing FIFA Women's World Cup on Wednesday to enter the finals of the tournament.
The match between these two countries was played at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais Stadium in Lyon. This was the Netherlands' first appearance in the semi-finals of the tournament whereas Sweden were playing in their fourth.

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Sweden were clearly the better side in the opening few minutes of the match as the team created more chances in the first half. But Netherlands' defense was up to the mark and they did not allow Sweden to break the deadlock.

The first half went goalless and no team was able to break each other's defense. Both the sides had solid defense lineup. At the half-time, the scoreline read 0-0. In the second half, both teams came out all guns blazing and started to display more attacking kind of football. Swedish player Hedvig Lindahl created a solid chance for the team in the second half, but she was denied by the goalpost.

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However, both sides were not able to register goals in the second half and hence the match went into extra time.
Sweden were clearly seen lacking in fitness levels in extra time and the Netherlands took full opportunity of it. Finally, in the 99th minute, Netherlands' Jackie Groenen scored a spectacular goal for the team to give a 1-0 lead.

The Netherlands were able to maintain their lead for the remaining of extra time and hence they won the match 1-0. This was the first ever Women's World Cup semi-final match that went into extra-time.

As a result of this win, Netherlands reached their first Women's World Cup final. They are the eighth different team to do so and fourth European nation. This was the first ever Women's World Cup semi-final match to be settled in extra-time.

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Netherlands will now face the USA in the finals of the tournament on July 7. Sweden and England will be taking on each other in the 3rd/4th place match on July 6.