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Thursday, 2 July 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
United States forward Kelley O’Hara (5) celebrates her goal during the second half against Germany in the semifinals of the FIFA 2015 Women’s World Cup at Olympic Stadium.
Reuters: The United States reached the final of the women’s football World Cup for the second time in a row on Tuesday, taking advantage of a dubious penalty to beat top-ranked Germany 2-0 in a hugely enjoyable game.
Captain Carli Lloyd converted her spot kick in the 69th minute after the Romanian referee ruled that Annike Krahn had obstructed Alex Morgan. Replays showed the offence clearly took place outside the box.
Substitute Kelley O’Hara flicked the ball home from close range in the 84th minute to seal a merited victory in front of a passionate Montreal crowd of more than 51,000, most of them Americans.
The United States - who lost in the 2011 final to Japan - will meet the winners of the Japan and England semi-final in Vancouver this Sunday.
The Americans rode their luck in the 63rd minute when Germany’s Celia Sasic missed a spot kick of her own.
U.S. defender Julie Johnston was adjudged to have dragged down Alexandra Popp but escaped with just a yellow card.
Germany, who had to play 30 minutes of extra time in their quarter final against France last Friday, were sluggish from the start and rarely threatened the inventive fleet-footed Americans.
Reuters: Sepp Blatter, president of the world football governing body FIFA that is embroiled in corruption investigations, will not travel to Canada for Sunday’s final of the women’s World Cup for personal reasons, his U.S.-based lawyer said on Tuesday.
Reuters was unable to determine the specific reasons why Blatter, a Swiss national, had decided not to attend the final in Vancouver. Some lawyers with experience in international criminal cases said that Blatter would be ill-advised to travel after an indictment announced on May 27 by U.S. prosecutors against nine current and former FIFA officials and five sports marketing businessmen.
U.S. prosecutors have not accused Blatter, 79, of any wrongdoing, but his stewardship of world football’s governing body is under scrutiny, sources familiar with investigations in the United States and Switzerland have said.
He announced on June 2 that he would step down as FIFA president after an election that is likely to take place late this year or early next year.
The FIFA presidency involves extensive travel, and this will be the first time Blatter has not presented the trophy to the winners of the women’s competition, which is held every four years, since he became FIFA president in 1998.
FIFA said in a statement that Secretary General Jerome Valcke also would not travel to Canada. A lawyer for Valcke did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Due to their current commitments in Zurich, the FIFA President and the FIFA Secretary General will remain at the FIFA Headquarters,” the statement said.
