Women’s World Cup on TV: Sweden and Netherlands vie for spot in final
What to watch for in the Women’s World Cup soccer tournament Wednesday:
SEMIFINALS
SWEDEN VS. NETHERLANDS
Where: Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon
Time: noon, PDT
TV: FS1, Telemundo
The buzz: Sweden rested seven starters in its final first-round match, basically conceding the group to the United States and dropping into the bottom half of the tournament bracket, where it avoided Spain, France and England. The strategy worked, with Sweden beating Canada and rallying from a one-goal deficit to edge Germany and reach the semifinals for the fourth time. Stina Blackstenius scored the winning goal in both knockout-round games, becoming just the second Swede — and the first since 1991 — to score in consecutive Women’s World Cup knockout-round games. The loss to the U.S. was the only game in the tournament in which Sweden conceded multiple goals, and it was the only loss any semifinalist brought into the final four. The Netherlands, playing in its second Women’s World Cup, won just one game in its debut visit four years ago. It has won five times in this tournament with Lieke Martens, a former world player of the year, and Vivianne Miedema combining for three of the team’s four goals in the knockout stages. Miedema’s 61 goals in 80 international matches are the most in Dutch history, male or female. The Netherlands, the reigning European champion, has lived on the edge, though, with three of its five wins coming by a goal. Sweden leads the all-time series between the teams 10-6-5, outscoring the Netherlands 33-17.
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kevin.baxter@latimes.com | Twitter: @kbaxter11
