Full Time: World Cup semifinal preview
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What day is it? Also, call your family. I’m Emily Olsen here with Meg Linehan and Steph Yang — welcome to Full Time!
When I was younger, my mom used to set the kitchen clock 10 minutes fast so we were never late. The wall clock was roughly eight minutes fast and the clock in the car was two minutes fast. All this to say, I never knew what time it was.
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Being in New Zealand and Australia for the past month feels very similar. I never quite adjusted to the time and my math is always off. All I know is there are four games left in this edition of the tournament and it starts with Spain vs. Sweden at Eden Park, Auckland at 8 p.m. local / 4 a.m. ET / 9 a.m. UK.
In its third World Cup appearance, La Roja has made it to the semifinal for the first time. The team last made a major tournament semifinal in 1997 at the European Championship. And now it will play against a Sweden team that is very used to being at this stage.
“If we’re not nervous, something’s not going right,” forward Jenni Hermoso said. “We have to feel that nervous sense in our stomach and to have the willpower to reach the final. Just by thinking about it, I get the shivers.”
It will be a battle of Spain’s potent attack, which has 15 goals this tournament, and Sweden’s organized defense which has allowed just two.
On the surface it should not be a surprise that Spain is part of this semifinal group; they have extremely talented players. However, the reality is this team has been going and continues to go through a lot (read about Las 15, an issue coach Jorge Vilda called a “question about the past” ahead of the game).
Still, the meld of young and old
Read on theathletic.com
