Sweden end USA's World Cup reign

MELBOURNE, August 6

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Sweden beat the United States 5-4 on penalties to condemn the defending champions to their earliest Women’s World Cup exit after the teams were locked at 0-0 at the end of extra time.

Lina Hurtig struck the winning spot-kick to cap a madcap shootout in the Round of 16 clash, though US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher parried the ball on the line and the result needed to be confirmed by VAR.

Sweden head into a quarterfinal against Japan in Auckland on Friday but it was the first exit before the semifinals in nine World Cups for the Americans, who were bidding for an unprecedented third consecutive title.

Gloomy US coach Vlatko Andonovski was not convinced Hurtig’s spot-kick had crossed the line “It’s a tough moment, a moment where it’s hard to go through,” he said.

Sweden’s Magda Eriksson said her team had shown heart if not their best game, having been dominated for much of the match.

“We’re so happy right now,” she said. “I don’t know how we managed to stay in this game. We didn’t play our best game, but in some way we showed we’re hard-headed, we showed heart, we never give up.”

Young US forward Sophia Smith was left shattered, having had a chance to win the match for the four-time champions when she stepped up in the penalty shootout only to blast the ball over the bar.

She was not the first player in her team to miss.

The talismanic Megan Rapinoe, renowned for her peerless record in shootouts, thumped the US’s fourth kick over the bar after Sweden’s Nathalie Bjorn also fired high.

Dutch delight

Sydney: Jill Roord scored her fourth goal of the tournament as the Netherlands marched into the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over South Africa.

Roord’s header gave her side an early lead and Lineth Beerensteyn added the second goal courtesy of a goalkeeping error in the second half to secure the Dutch a date with Spain in Wellington on Friday. — Reuters