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FOOTBALL

Denmark beat Austria on penalties to reach Euro 2017 final

Denmark secured a place in their first-ever women's Euro final by beating Austria 3-0 on penalties following a 0-0 draw after extra-time in Breda on Thursday.

Denmark beat Austria on penalties to reach Euro 2017 final
Denmark celebrate after winning the match on penalties. Photo: Reuters/Scanpix

Austria's Laura Feiersinger blasted her penalty over while Viktoria Pinther and Verena Aschauer were denied by Danish keeper Stina Petersen.

Austria missed four penalties on the night in total, as Sarah Puntigam had fired over from the spot in the 13th minute after Denmark midfielder Maja Kildemoes' handball.

“It was a very long match, it made me get older,” said Denmark coach Nils Nielsen.

“Austria played a beautiful tournament, but I'm delighted we ended up winners and I think it was deserved.”

In Sunday's final, Denmark will take on hosts the Netherlands, who beat England 3-0 in Enschede later on Thursday.

The Dutch have already beaten beat Denmark during the Euro tournament, having won 1-0 in the group stage.

Denmark, who sent eight-time champions Germany packing with a 2-1 quarter-final win, will play their first Euro final after their sixth semi-final in history.

Denmark dominated possession but Austria threatened first with Nina Burger's shot that was cleared off the goal line by the Danish defence.

Denmark's Sanne Troelsgaard blasted her shot into the crossbar on 21 minutes in her team's best first-half chance.

Austrian keeper Manuela Zinsberger found herself pretty busy after half-time, clearing Simone Boye's glancing header from close range and Pernille Harder's left-footer from inside the box.

Katrine Veje slammed the ball over from close range in extra-time, while Harder first saw her shot stopped by Zinsberger and then sent her bullet header wide on 120 minutes.

“It was great to get to the semis in our first tournament, conceding once in five games,” said Austria coach Dominik Thalhammer.

“Today was close and we missed four penalties, which cost us.”

“It wasn't our best performance, but the overall tournament has been very good for us.”

READ ALSO: Nadia Nadim: the refugee who became a Danish footballing role model

RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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