LONDON (AP) — Austria arrange a Ladies’s European Championship assembly with Germany by eliminating star-studded Norway 1-0 on Friday.
Nicole Billa’s header in Brighton clinched the win that sealed second place in Group A, leaving Norway in third place regardless of having the ability to deploy 2018 Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg.
Austria’s girls are taking part in at solely their second European Championship after making it to the semifinals in 2017.
“We fought till the tip, making an attempt to remove Norway’s final hopes and want to attain,” mentioned Billa, who performs for Hoffenheim. “I’m very joyful we’ll play towards Germany. I do know loads of acquainted faces from the Bundesliga there and I haven’t seen a few of them for some time.”
It’s the second consecutive exit within the group stage for Norway, though this time the two-time European champions picked up one win in contrast to in 2017.
“Everybody has a duty on this, myself included,” Hegerberg mentioned. “There needs to be a brutal honesty in evaluating the whole lot that’s occurred in the previous few weeks to be able to truly bounce again from this. So we must discover the solutions and we’ll need to work on it immediately.”
The group was gained by host nation England, which placed on one other dazzling show by routing Northern Eire 5-0 in entrance of round 30,000 followers in Southampton. It’s 14 targets with out reply in three video games on the event for the crew led by Sarina Wiegman, who missed Friday’s recreation after testing optimistic for COVID-19.
Northern Eire had already been eradicated and England was certain of advancing earlier than kickoff in Southampton nevertheless it took Wiegman’s facet 40 minutes to interrupt the impasse towards the event newcomers when Fran Kirby struck a curled shot from the sting of the field over the protection and into the highest nook.
England doubled its lead earlier than the break with Beth Mead taking her event tally to 5. The Arsenal ahead took a contact within the field earlier than calmly slotting the ball into the again of the online.
She turned supplier three minutes into the second half, with a cross headed in by substitute Alessia Russo.
Russo needed to wait solely till the 53rd minute for an additional aim, taking a contact to lose the defender earlier than slotting previous goalkeeper Jacqueline Burns after being performed in by Ella Toone.
England’s fifth got here in unlucky style for Northern Eire, as Kelsie Burrows inadvertently lifted the ball in over her personal goalkeeper as she tried to cope with a cross.
“We like to be ruthless, we love to attain targets and, hopefully, there may be extra of that to return,” Russo mentioned. “It’s perhaps one thing we’ve lacked up to now, however at this event we’re actually rising.”
England will play Spain or Denmark on Wednesday within the quarterfinals, relying on which crew finishes runner-up in Group B.