Particularly clumsy, the Swedes had to wait for stoppage time to find the deliverance (1-0) on Friday.
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They got scared. At the end of a particularly close match, Sweden qualified for the semi-finals of Euro 2022 by overcoming Belgium on Friday July 22, thanks to a goal scored a few seconds from the end of the match. (1-0). Thanks to this victory at the Stade du Leigh Sports Village, a suburb of Manchester, the Swedes find the last four of the Euro for the first time since 2013. They will face England, host country of the competition, Tuesday, July 26.
And breathe!
Sweden are through to the semi-finals thanks to Linda Sembrant’s late winner #WEURO2022
— UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 (@WEURO2022) July 22, 2022
Despite a tactically close first half, Sweden provided the clearest chance. Sweden’s Stina Blackstenius thought she had opened the scoring in the 24th minute, but the Arsenal striker was eventually flagged for offside by the referee after using VAR.
Undecided, nervous… The pressure continued to mount on the Swedish side as the protégés of Peter Gerhardsson couldn’t find the fault. In all, the Scandinavian attackers struck 33 times (!) on goal, for only 10 shots on target. Deliverance finally came from the feet of Linda Sembrant who opened the scoring in the 92nd minute. After a corner poorly cleared by the Belgians, the Juventus player from Turin delivered the Blue and Yellow with a flat right foot.
Too timid in attack (3 shots, 0 on target), Belgium’s Flammes Rouges never really worried the Swedish defence. Dejected, despite their demonstration of defensive solidarity, they missed the opportunity to qualify for the first European semi-final in their history.