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Incredible Matildas beat Britain to make final four – and history

Australia's Alanna Kennedy (left) erupts in ecstasy after the Matildas snatched the lead.

Australia's Alanna Kennedy (left) erupts in ecstasy after the Matildas snatched the lead. Photo: Getty

The Sam Kerr-inspired Matildas have delivered one of Australian football’s great victories, defeating Great Britain 4-3 in a super-charged half-hour of extra time to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics semi-finals.

Australia took the lead against the run of play through Alanna Kennedy’s brilliant header in the 35th minute on Friday night, only to fall behind 2-1 to two Ellen White goals.

But, yet again, superstar skipper Kerr struck in the 89th minute to save Australia and send the gripping quarter-final to overtime.

Mary Fowler put the Matildas in front in the 103rd minute – barely a minute after the brilliant Teagan Micah saved a penalty – before Kerr, typically, all but sealed the deal with a signature header in the 106th to give the “Tillies” a two-goal buffer.

White completed her hat-trick in the 115th minute but the Matildas held on, reaching the final four for the first time in their history.

Kerr, a global superstar and winner of six Golden Boots across three continents, ranked the team’s achievement among the highlights of her decorated career.

“We’ve never qualified for a semi-final in a major tournament so 100 per cent it’s right up there,” Kerr said.

“But I can’t think of anything else right now – I’m just trying to enjoy this moment.

“I feel like we’ve done so much work to get here that we should enjoy it, we should take it in, we should be proud of what we’ve achieved.”

Bring on Sweden

The Matildas will face Sweden in a rematch on Monday night after losing to the Scandinavians 4-2 in the group stages last week.

Sweden beat Japan 3-1 in their quarter-final on Friday night.

Great Britain dominated Australia early and would have led but for Micah’s goalkeeping masterclass, including denying Lauren Hemp from close-range in the 24th minute.

Eleven minutes later, Australia went up 1-0.

Steph Catley looped a corner into the box, with Kennedy making light work of the much-shorter Demi Stokes to nod home a towering header.

Great Britain hit back in the 57th minute, when Hemp’s delightful cross dropped perfectly between Kennedy and Ellie Carpenter for White to head home.

Nine minutes later, Aivi Luik and Kennedy failed to clear the ball and it fell to White, who powered her second past a helpless Micah.

Then the Matildas hit back.

The Kerr factor

Emily van Egmond sent a searching ball into the 18-yard box and Kennedy flicked a header on to Kerr, who took a touch, let the ball settle then rifled it past the scattered British defence to send the game to 120 minutes.

Micah denied Keira Walsh’s scintillating shot in the 94th minute, then batted away White’s close-range effort.

But the hero keeper’s biggest moment came in the 102nd when Carpenter gave away a contentiously soft penalty against Nikita Parris.

Caroline Weir’s spot-kick was poor and a commanding Micah palmed it away.

Less than 90 seconds later, teen sensation Fowler tried her luck on her left from distance.

The shot took a heavy deflection off Great Britain superstar Lucy Bronze and nestled in the top corner.

Three minutes later, Kerr leapt over Steph Houghton to double Australia’s lead – before White’s late header forced the Matildas to grit their teeth and hang on for a famous victory.

-AAP

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