Sports
FWWC: Spain dashes Sweden’s First World Cup Win with 2-1 Victory in the Semifinal.
Jinxed Sweden on Tuesday(today) lost the coveted semifinal encounter against Spain in the women’s world cup semifinal 2-1 within 10 minutes to the end of the match at the Eden Park Stadium in Auckland.

It was the fourth time Sweden was eliminated from the semifinal stage as the team fell in 1991, 2011, 2019 and now 2023 which is most unfortunate from any side at the world cup.
Barca’s left winger, Paralluelo Ayingono who scored against Netherlands, opened scoring for Spain in the 81st minute when Sweden failed to neatly clearly their lines and Paralluelo’s shot went through a cluster of legs.
Wolfsburg player, Rebecka Blomqvist who also scored against Argentina, was involved in a medley of headers from Asilani to Hurtig and then Blomqvist whose header brought the equalizer at the 88th minute.
Just a minute after, Real Madrid’s left back, Olga Carmona from a corner kick beat Goalkeeper Musovic in the 89th minute for the winner.
It was the first time in the women’s world cup history that we saw a first goal scored 10 minutes to full time and within the few minutes left for play, three goals were scored.
Sweden will meet the loser between England and Australia at the 3rd Place match at Eden Park Stadium on Saturday at 0900 hours to determine who makes the podium finish.
Spain will meet the winner for the England versus Australia match to know the new world cup champion on Sunday.
To get to the quarterfinals, Spain beat Costa Rica 3-0 on 21st July; refused Zambia freedom via 5-0 drubbing on 26th July and surprisingly lost to high tech, Japan 4-0 on 31st July. For the knockout stages, Spain hit Switzerland 5-1 in the round of 16. Spain is current highest team scorers with 13 goals in this tournament and has conceded 5 goals now. She defeated Netherlands 2-1 in the quarterfinal.
Spain on 16th February 1983 defeated Netherlands 1-0; but Ned won 2-1 on 16th November 1983; at the 2010 world cup played 11th July Spain won 1-0; the highest win for Netherlands against Spain was at the 2014 world cup played 3rd June with a 5-1 win; Ned was superior again on 31st March 2015 beating Spain 2-0 and on 11th November 2020 they played 1-1 draw.
The Spanish side had beaten Slovenia 17-0 at Palamos on 20th March 1994 but the country suffered heavy defeat from Sweden 0-8 on home ground at Ganalia, Spain on 2nd June 1996. The Spanish women are making their 3rd appearance at the world cup finals. Their best performance was getting into the Round of 16 at Canada 2019 where USA beat the country 2-1 at Reins on 24th June.
Sweden at the knockout stages had diffused the high tech Asian Tigresses, Japan 2-1 in the quarterfinals and dismissed USA 5-4 on penalties after a goalless full time in the round of 16. Earlier on 23rd July defeated South Africa 2-1 on 23rd July; pounded Italy 5-0on 29th July and also crashed Argentina 2-0 on 2nd August all in the group matches.
Sweden never won the trophy; they were runners-up at USA 2003 and lost to Germany 1-2 at extra time. Sweden won Bronze three times at China 1991; Germany 2011 and France 2019. She was at the quarterfinals twice at Sweden 1995 and USA 1999 but was also at the round of 16 at Canada 2015.
This is the first meeting of the two teams in any major competition as Sweden won 1-0 at the group stages of 1997 UEFA Women’s Championship. I have record of ten other meetings as Sweden on 16th July 1950 won 3-1; Spain ran away with a lone goal victory on 11th June 1978; while Sweden won 3-2 on 7th October 2006.
On 17th November 2007 Spain made it a 3-0 drubbing of Sweden just like it was on 10th June 2019 which were the highest wins for Spain; on 14th June 2008 Spain had clinched it 2-1; they played 1-1 on 15th October 2019 and scored a goalless draw on 14th June 2021; Sweden obtained victory 2-1 on 2nd September 2021 and it was Spain 1 Sweden 0 on 14th November 2021.
Spain is in their first semifinal in three appearances. Should Spain win, the nation will join the league of Elite squad that made it at the first getting to that position of final four like USA who made it once; Norway once; Netherlands twice and Germany twice.
Sweden is playing her 5th semifinal reaching the finals in 2003 but lost in 1991, 2011 and 2019. They could become the first team to lose four times at this stage of the competition.
If Spain wins, they will be the second team to have lost a group game before by 4+ at the world cup but still reach the final after Norway in 1991 that lost 0-4 against China.
Sweden would have been the first European nation to reach the multiple finals of the competition they made in 2003, the record of Norway 1991 and 1995 and Germany 1995, 2003 and 2007 notwithstanding.
This is Spain’s 4th world cup match against fellow European nations. She lost 0-1 to Germany at the group stage in 2019 but beat Switzerland 5-1 and Netherlands 2-1 at the knockout stages this year.
England will meet hosts Australia in the second semifinal on Wednesday 16th August at 1100 hours.
Something unique is that we are expecting a new champion for the world as previous champions, four times winner USA; two times winner, won one time each have been exited in this tournament.
By Eniola Olatunji
Sports
Leicester City Put Up For Sale
General view of a Leicester City sign from the front of King Power StadiumLeicester City are looking to sell the club for more than £200m, with its Thai owners King Power ready to leave after 16 years.
The Foxes have had an eight-page sales booklet produced by a leading US investment bank to help offload the one-time Premier League title winners.
Citigroup lists the Foxes, its women’s team, and other major assets – including the 32,000-seat King Power Stadium and its Seagrave training facility which was opened in 2020 and is valued at £121m – as well as OH Leuven, Leicester’s Belgian sister club, as up for sale in a brochure titled ‘Project Lineup’.
The document, seen by BBC Sport, values the club’s physical assets at more than £200m, though no specific sum has been attributed to the sale of its struggling teams.
The brochure speaks of “a rare opportunity to acquire a club with an excellent track record of winning promotions to higher divisions”.
Leicester’s successes, including the 5,000-1 Premier League title win of 2016 and the FA Cup triumph five years later, are well promoted in the brochure, while their place in League One, after back-to-back relegations from the top flight and the Championship, fail to get a mention.
The club’s turnover, which Citigroup forecast to be more than £97m for the 2026 financial year are also part of the pitch, but the years of financial losses and the club’s debts – which, as outlined in its 2025 accounts, include £103.6m in bank loans – are omitted.
In the years that the club yo-yoed between the Premier League and Championship, with two relegations from the top flight in three years between 2023 and 2025, the club lost more than £180m.
King Power, run by the Srivaddhanaprabha family, bought Leicester for £35m from Milan Mandaric in 2010.
Khun Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha is currently chairman after his father Khun Vichai died in a helicopter crash outside the stadium in 2019.
Efforts to put the third-tier club up for sale were first reported in the Financial Times, external in July, but the product brochure now being circulated to prospective buyers is public confirmation that new investors are being sought.
The sale process comes just eight months on from Khun Top saying he is shouldering the blame for the club’s drastic recent demise.
There have been growing calls from disgruntled fans for the club to be sold, with the most vocal showing coming outside King Power Stadium after relegation from the Championship was confirmed last season.
Leicester’s struggles in recent years have come at a time when the King Power duty-free business in Thailand, which has been intrinsically linked to the club since the Srivaddhanaprabha family bought the Foxes, has also endured financial difficulties.
Despite the club’s issues, Leicester City is being positioned for sale as one of only five clubs to have won all three major English trophies – the Premier League, the FA Cup and the League Cup – since 2000.
The document also outlines the potential of the club’s academy, stating the Foxes have a “strong talent pipeline backed by leading scouting infrastructure, active transfer management and highly developed academy system consistently producing top players”.
Leicester sold academy graduate Jeremy Monga to Manchester City for £10m last month.
Leicester, relegated to League One for just the second time in their history last season, will start their latest campaign in the third tier under head coach Russell Martin at Notts County on Saturday.
Sports
Amorim Wants Tomori, Nkunku 6 Other AC Milan Stars Out Of Club
AC Milan coach Ruben Amorim has decided Fikayo Tomori and Christopher Nkunku do not figure in his plans this season.
David Odogu, Pervis Estupinan, Santiago Gimenez and Philip Terracciano are also expected to leave after Amorim held a crunch meeting with club bosses on Thursday.
The Portuguese, who was dismissed by United in January following a dismal 14 months in charge, accepted the task of transforming Milan’s fortunes – with the Italian giants finishing fifth last season.
He is set for a reunion with his old side this weekend in Poland, where he will search for his first win in charge of his new club having failed to register a victory in pre-season.
A 2-2 draw with Scottish champions Celtic was followed by a 1-1 tie with fierce rivals Inter Milan, before Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea put three goals past the Portuguese’s side in a woeful result in Jakarta.
But Amorim is ready to embrace the challenge, and suggested that his task at the San Siro is even greater than his job at Old Trafford.
‘I’m really very happy to be here, it’s an honour to be the coach of Milan,’ he said.
‘Why did I choose Milan? If you read an old interview of mine you will understand it, for me a special club.
‘It’s a very big challenge that I accepted even if after the last one [at Manchester United] I told myself to accept a smaller one.
‘Perhaps it is a greater challenge than the last. I’m proud to be here, we all are, me and my staff.
‘I’m at Milan to win, if you’re Milan coach you have to have this mentality,’ he added.
‘I’m not naive, I know there’s a lot of work to do, but if you’re the Milan coach you have to play to win.’
Sports
Transfer: Man Utd Name 6 Clubs Rashford Can’t Join
Manchester United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has blocked Marcus Rashford from joining any direct Premier League rival.
According to the UK Mirror, the Red Devils are determined to avoid a scenario where Rashford shines at a domestic competitor.
The 28-year-old is back at Carrington for pre-season training following a loan spell at Barcelona, but his long-term future at Old Trafford remains uncertain.
Ratcliffe wants to remove Rashford from United’s wage bill, but he won’t sanction a move to the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City or Liverpool
The restrictions extend to loan inquiries, as Chelsea, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur have been rebuffed.
There is fear among United senior officials that Rashford could prove instrumental in helping a rival secure a Champions League spot, a scenario that would be viewed as ’embarrassing’ by the club’s top brass.
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