Norway Warms Up in the Second Half
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SAN JOSE — As the sultry weather cooled Wednesday evening, defending Women’s World Cup champion Norway got hotter.
Switching from long balls to a mixture of long and short passes, Norway broke open a scoreless game with three goals in the second half--the last on a penalty kick--and ran off with a 3-1 quarterfinal victory over rival Sweden at Spartan Stadium. Norway (4-0) will face China Sunday in the semifinals at Foxboro, Mass.
“Both teams were afraid of losing, and we talked about that at halftime,” said Linda Medalen, Norway’s captain. “Our coach [Per-Mathias Hogmo] was very good. He said, ‘Don’t be afraid of losing. There is nothing to lose and everything to win. Do it.’ I’m very proud of him today.
“We dreamt about this, so this is fantastic.”
Norway wore down Sweden (2-2) with a display of individual skills the Swedes couldn’t match. “We have been beating Sweden in our seven last matches,” Hogmo said, “but there’s always a chance you can be unlucky in football. We were very prepared for this game.
“I’m not pleased with the goal we gave away, but I’m glad Sweden got a goal and can qualify for the Olympics.”
Holding Norway scoreless for the first 45 minutes Wednesday was a moral victory for Sweden, which can go to the Sydney Olympics if its margin of defeat is among the three lowest of the quarterfinal losers. If teams have the identical margin of defeat, the losing team scoring the most goals will be ranked higher.
“Norway has a lot of international players who are very good,” Sweden Coach Marika Domansky Lyfors said. “It will be a very hard and tough match, but I think Norway will manage to reach the finals.”
Despite being sandwiched by two Swedish defenders, Norwegian midfielder Ann Kristin Aarones outjumped both to head in a free kick by Silje Jorgensen in the 51st minute. Seven minutes later, forward Marianne Pettersen chipped a shot over defender Asa Lonnqvist and the right hand of goalkeeper Ulrika Karlsson for Norway’s second goal.
Midfielder Hege Riise scored the third goal, in the 72nd minute. Norway was awarded the penalty kick after Karlsson tripped Pettersen in the penalty area, and Riise took a hard, curving shot that nestled inside the left post.
Sweden avoided the shutout when Malin Mostrom outraced Norway’s defense and sent a hard shot past Bente Nordby in the first minute of the four-minute injury time, but the clock ran out for Sweden.
