England back in WWC semis as Russo clinches comeback win over Colombia

England fought back from a goal down to beat Colombia 2-1 on Saturday in a bruising encounter and set up a tasty Women’s World Cup semi-final with Australia.

Forward Alessia Russo scored the winner for the European champions just after the hour in front of 75,000 in Sydney to end Colombia’s run in the tournament.

Earlier in the day, co-hosts Australia beat France 7-6 in a thrilling penalty shootout in Brisbane to reach the last four for the first time in their history.

The semi-final will be in Sydney on Wednesday.

Colombia, playing in their first quarter-final, took the lead against the run of play through a wonderful dipping effort from the edge of the box by Leicy Santos on 44 minutes.

But England struck back deep in first-half stoppage time when Lauren Hemp pounced on a goalkeeping error by a fumbling Catalina Perez, before Russo sealed the quarter-final in the Lionesses’ favour with her cool finish.

“I am buzzing, we are keeping the dream alive,” said Russo.

Full Story »