Jennifer Hermoso: It gives us goosebumps

Spainrsquos first Womenrsquos World Cup semifinal in their history on Tuesday is reward for years of sacrifice veteran forward Jennifer Hermoso says admitting to ldquogoosebumpsrdquo at the thought of reaching the finalOpponents Sweden are regulars at this stage of the World Cupmdashwithout ever going on to lift the trophymdashbut for Spain they are into uncharted waters ldquoIf you donrsquot feel any nerves before a game like this then something is not rightrdquo the 33yearold Hermoso said on the eve of the semifinal in AucklandldquoIt gives you goosebumps thinking about how close we are to the final but first of all we have the game tomorrow and Spain will come out more determined than everrdquoKosovare AsllaniHermoso who plays her club football in Mexico has been representing her country for more than a decade and won her 100th cap earlier in the tournamentldquoTomorrowrsquos game is the consequence of millions of training sessions of so many moments we have been through of spending time far from our families and loved ones of so much sacrificerdquo she saidlsquoWe have worked so hardrsquoldquoWe have worked so hard to get here and I just want to enjoy it I want the whole team to enjoy it and for the whole of Spain to be behind usrdquo Spain and Sweden drew 11 in a friendly last October just after 15 Spanish players told their federation they no longer wished to be considered for selection in protest at coach Jorge VildaVilda survived the rebellion and brought three of the rebels with him to the World Cup ldquoWe have a federation president who reacted bravely who backed me and my staff Now there is unity in the squad everyone is getting on they are ambitious and trying to enjoy every dayrdquo he said on MondayOne of the players who returned to the squad is midfielder Aitana Bonmati and she has been one of the standouts at the tournamentSweden coach Peter Gerhardsson believes it would be a mistake to focus too closely on trying to stop the Barcelona playmakerldquoThe difficulty with Spain is that they have so many skilled players whereas other teams might have just one or two stars so that means making sure we mark them is very importantrdquo he said Sweden captain Kosovare Asllani believes her teamrsquos far greater experience of going far at major tournaments will give them the edge at Eden ParkSwedes have experienceThe Swedes have become regulars in the latter stages at recent competitions having reached the last four at the 2019 World Cup and at last yearrsquos European Championship They also made the final at the Tokyo Olympics before losing to Canada ldquoWe have the benefit of experiencerdquo Asllani said ldquoWe have won our matches in different ways and it shows the strength of this teamrdquo she addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever