SI:AM | Australia’s World Cup Dreams Are Dashed

Plus, SI’s 2023 college football All-American teams.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. This is the last time you’ll see my name in your inbox for a bit. I’ll be on vacation until Aug. 28. But don’t fret, you’ll still receive SI:AM in the meantime.

In today’s SI:AM:

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England punches its ticket to the final

🔮 FSU’s future in the ACC

🏈 College football All-Americans

If you're reading this on SI.com, you can sign up to get this free newsletter in your inbox each weekday at SI.com/newsletters.

Sam Kerr couldn’t do it alone

There will be no storybook ending for the host nation at the World Cup.

Australia’s run came to an end against England this morning with a 3–1 loss in the semifinals. The Lionesses will face Spain in the final Sunday (6 a.m. ET on Fox), while the Matildas will have to settle for the third-place game against Sweden (4 a.m. ET Saturday on Fox).

England struck first with a goal by Ella Toone in the 36th minute, the result of some excellent team play. Australia pulled level after halftime with a stunning goal by Sam Kerr in the 63rd minute, but England answered almost immediately with a goal by Lauren Hemp off a long assist from Millie Bright (and with some help from an Aussie defensive lapse) in the 71st minute.

Kerr’s presence was massive for Australia. After missing the first three games of the tournament with a calf injury and coming on as a substitute in the previous two, Kerr was in the starting lineup for the semifinal. Widely regarded as the world’s best player, she was the focal point of the Aussie offense. But she squandered two prime chances to level the score—first with a header in front of the goal, and then with an even better opportunity after an Australian corner. The ball came right to her in front of an open net, and she missed. Alessia Russo put the game out of reach for England shortly thereafter with a goal in the 86th minute.

Throughout the tournament, Australia was buoyed by raucous home crowds, something England players said was a challenge in the semifinal but also a privilege. England’s Lucy Bronze said, “It’s been amazing to play against Australia in Australia.”

The fans were especially deafening after Kerr’s goal.

“They scored and they got momentum, and the place erupted, and Hempo’s goal flipped momentum, which was really crucial,” Russo said.

England’s victory sets up a tantalizing final against Spain. It’ll be both countries’ first appearance in a Women’s World Cup final and a rematch of last summer’s European Championship quarterfinal, which England won, 2–1, en route to winning the tournament.

Spain’s ability to blitz opponents (as in blowouts over Costa Rica and Zambia in the group stage and Switzerland in the round of 16) as well as grind out hard-fought victories (against the Netherlands in extra time in the quarterfinals and with an immediate answer to Sweden’s late equalizer in the semis) has been remarkable. The best teams in sports don’t just win—they win in a variety of ways and do so by adjusting to their opponents.

But Spain is also succeeding against a backdrop of controversy. Last year, 15 players threatened to quit the team if its coach, Jorge Vilda, was not fired. Reuters reported that the players were “unhappy with the management of injuries, the atmosphere in the locker room, Vilda’s team selection and his training sessions.” Spain’s governing body stuck by Vilda, who has coached the team since 2015, and some of the 15 players who spoke out last year are on the World Cup squad. Vilda said before the semifinal that he believed the country would not have advanced as far as it had if the federation had not backed him during the revolt.

For England, the final is an opportunity to assert itself as the best women’s team in the world. The Lionesses entered the World Cup ranked fourth in the world (behind the United States, Germany and Sweden) but are the defending Euro champions, and winning a second straight major tournament would put the rest of the world on notice.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports

• Although it won’t come in 2024, the ACC is bracing for the possibility Florida State will try to leave the conference, Pat Forde reports.
• Albert Breer spoke with Khalil Mack about succeeding without the injured Joey Bosa last year and why he expects to have a “special” season this year.
• Here are SI’s first- and second-team college football All-Americans, as compiled by Richard Johnson.
• Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne is expected to be out for three to four months with a hamstring injury.
• Rays ace Shane McClanahan will have Tommy John surgery.
• James Harden reportedly wants to “make life very uncomfortable” for the Sixers as training camp approaches.
• It’s the week of the WNBA superteams, with the Aces and Liberty going head-to-head twice in two days. If you missed Tuesday’s Commissioner’s Cup, you can catch the two squads Thursday for as low as $13 with SI Tickets.

The top five...

… things I saw last night:

5. Miguel Cabrera’s second homer of the season (and first since June 14).

4. Bobby Witt Jr.’s grand slam into the Kauffman Stadium fountain.

3. The horrendous called third strike on Justin Turner.

2. Marshawn Lynch attempting to dunk on a SlamBall court.

1. Lionel Messi’s long-range goal against the Union. He has scored in all six of his matches for Miami.

SIQ

On this day in 2017, due to a series of injuries to other players, Mets infielder Asdrúbal Cabrera repeatedly switched between second base and third base, leading to the hilarious box score notation “2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B” next to his name. Who was the player he swapped positions with every time a right-handed batter came to the plate?

• Michael Conforto
• Travis d’Arnaud
• Curtis Granderson
• Dominic Smith

Yesterday’s SIQ: On Aug. 15, 2011, Jim Thome hit his 600th career home run against the Tigers. The pitcher who gave up the milestone homer was the son of which athlete who won a championship in another sport?

• Mark Schlereth
• Mike Modano
• Robert Parish
• Keenan McCardell

Answer: Mark Schlereth. The former NFL guard won a Super Bowl with Washington and two with the Broncos. His son, Daniel Schlereth, pitched four seasons in the majors as a reliever with the Diamondbacks and Tigers.

Thome is one of nine players in MLB history to hit 600 home runs. The milestone dinger was his second of the night. He hit No. 599 off Rick Porcello earlier in the game and then took Schlereth deep in the seventh inning to extend the Twins’ lead.