15 August 2023 , 20:00
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Arsenal women manager Jonas Eidevall is tempted to support Australia in their Women’s World Cup semi-final against England after his punditry colleagues upset him on air.
Eidevall was working alongside former England internationals Alex Scott and Fara Williams for the first semi-final, between Spain and Sweden, on the BBC on Tuesday. Spain booked their place in the final in Sydney on Sunday with a dramatic 2-1 win at Eden Park in Auckland.
The match came to life in the closing stages with Salma Paralluelo opening the scoring for Spain from close range before Rebecka Blomqvist equalised swiftly for Sweden with a controlled finish. Olga Carmona scored the winner with a long-range effort, sparking wild celebrations for Spain and despair for Swedes like Eidevall.
The Gunners boss was in the minority in the BBC studio, with Scott and Williams apparently cheering for Spain. That prompted some banter between the trio, who were in conservation with presenter Gabby Logan.
"Jonas actually wants Australia to win now because of our celebrations," joked Williams. Scott added: "He's not talking to me anymore."
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A grinning Eidevall replied: "After Alex was dancing on the chair, I felt like we were not really Team Sweden here anymore!"
Later in the programme, Logan asked Eidevall a leading question: “Jonas, so sorry it didn’t work out for Sweden this time, but will you be supporting England tomorrow night, won’t you?”
After a long pause Eidevall said: “Errr, I always support…” before his colleagues burst out laughing and Scott said “hesitation!”
England beat Colombia 2-1 in the quarter-finals (Photo by Naomi Baker - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)Eidevall added, “I think I’m still hurt a little bit.” Logan concluded: “I’ll put the pause down to jetlag!”
England will play Australia at a sold-out 75,000 Stadium Australia in Sydney on Wednesday morning. The Matildas will have the benefit of vocal home support, but their manager Tony Gustavsson has insisted that they are the underdogs.
Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman has rejected that tag. "First of all, I don't think they are underdogs," she said. "They're playing at home. The stadium will be really full so it's two teams that are very good, very strong and have grown into the tournament.
"It's going to be very tight and very competitive. We approach the game as any other game, we just prepare how we want to play.
"We've analysed our opponent really well so hopefully we can take out the strengths and exploit some weaknesses, and take it from there."
England are ranked fourth in the world, but have looked vulnerable at times in the previous two knock-out games against Nigeria and Colombia. However, they are much more experienced in tournaments, having won the Euros last summer and reached the semi-finals at the last two World Cups.
Australia are ranked 10th in the world and have never previously been past the quarter-finals at a major global tournament.
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