da aposte e ganhe： The Lionesses produced a resolute defensive display to see off Colombia and have all the tools to go on and win the tournament
da jogodeouro： England will face Women's World Cup co-hosts Australia in the semi-finals after Alessia Russo's strike fired them past Colombia and into the last four. The Lionesses initially fell behind in the game to a Leicy Santos cross-cum-shot, but Lauren Hemp levelled things up and Russo made the difference as the European champions progressed to the next round.
England settled into the game well and created a few early chances, both Rachel Daly and Russo having headers comfortably saved. It was Colombia who opened the scoring, though, with Santos' cross from the right catching out goalkeeper Mary Earps.
However, England would level before the break when Hemp pounced on some poor goalkeeping at the other end. It seemed that Colombia's Catalina Perez was going to comfortably gather a loose ball in the box but she spilled it and Hemp made sure to punish her mistake by tapping into an empty net.
The European champions carried that momentum into the second half and started well, marking that good spell with Russo's goal. It was a great pass from Georgia Stanway to put her in on goal and she applied a finish to match.
Colombia rallied and made it nervy towards the end but England held on and are back in a major tournament semi-final and what is sure to be a superb encounter with Australia in Sydney on Wednesday.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Stadium Australia…
Getty ImagesWINNER: The Russo and Hemp partnership
After working a treat against China, then not so much against Nigeria, the two-up-top partnership between Russo and Hemp thrived again in this match and was ultimately the reason that England went through.
Both players were excellent when they got on the ball, getting their heads down and driving forward to carry the Lionesses up the pitch and start attacks.
The chance to play with positional freedom appears to suit Hemp, usually a touchline-hugging winger, so well, while Russo's ability to get involved with the build-up play has a positive influence and there are not so many negatives about it when Hemp is then able to get in the box to be on the end of chances.
AdvertisementGettyLOSER: Ella Toone
With Lauren James suspended, Ella Toone came back into the team and it was a chance for her to show that quality that everyone knows she possesses.
Sadly for her, though, she struggled to get into the game, unable to create any chances for her team-mates on the night.
Toone worked hard, as always, but the things she tried in attack simply did not come off.
GettyWINNER: The back three
This could've been a bad tactical match-up for England. Colombia's wide players are electric and there was a lot of space for them in behind the Lionesses' wing-backs.
But beyond them, the back three was absolutely immense. Jess Carter had a couple of tricky moments against teenage phenom Linda Caicedo but was otherwise brilliant, winning four of her six tackles and regaining possession nine times.
Millie Bright chipped in with five clearances and four huge blocks, while winning three of her four aerial duels, and Alex Greenwood was classy as ever, coming up with a particularly big block at the end to deny substitute Ivonne Chacon a clear shot at goal.
Whenever Colombia looked to be in, one of the back three was there to stop them. They were fantastic.
GettyLOSER: Keira Walsh
This wasn't a poor match from Keira Walsh but, once again, the question is whether or not this 3-5-2 system gets the best out of her.
The Barcelona star played a nice ball into the box that would lead to Hemp's equaliser, yet this was a rare flash of her excellent quality in possession and passing range.
Walsh is one of the best players in the world and her ability to be an effective deep-lying playmaker is a big part of that. If Wiegman can figure out a way to let her show as much in this system, it'd be a big boost to England's World Cup chances.