SYDNEY, Australia -- Ella Toone said her first-half goal against Australia in the World Cup semifinal was the "best shot" she's ever hit in her life as it helped tee up England's 3-1 victory as they booked a spot in Sunday's final against Spain.
England will contend their second major final in 13 months when they face Spain on Sunday and Toone's first-half goal helped them on their way. England headed into the break 1-0 to the good but Sam Kerr's wondergoal pulled the game level. But it was the Lionesses who prevailed thanks to goals from Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo.
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It was Toone's first goal of the World Cup and it was a fantastic first-time effort as she collected Russo's pass and hammered it past Mackenzie Arnold in the 36th minute.
"It fell straight to me in the box and I just thought 'why not just smack it?' Honestly, that's the best shot I've hit in my life," Toone said postmatch.
"Sometimes when you hit a ball, you just know, 'yeah I've caught that perfectly' and that was like 'wow, that was alright that.' I think I knew as soon as it left my boot that it was going to end up in the back of the net."
England won in front of a packed Stadium Australia, with the Lionesses' fans in the minority against a backdrop of green and gold. But Toone said England embraced the hostility.
"The crowd were against us in the last game too, nearly every game we have played in this tournament they have been against us. It doesn't faze us at all. We just get on with it and get on with getting the win," Toone said. "I think we feed of that animosity a bit out there. Ssshhing the crowd was a big part of tonight, we did that with three excellent goals and the crowd was pretty quiet by the end."
Hemp was named Player of the Match after she put in an outstanding shift up front. She scored England's second as she out-muscled Ellie Carpenter, and then teed up Russo with a deft no-look pass.
"I feel like, as a team we have got such an inner-belief, and also so much confidence as the group. No matter what happens on the outside, no matter who we come up against, every challenge we've managed to solve," Hemp said. "Every game, we've managed to compete and we've managed to come out on top.
"I feel like this team is so special. You saw last year how successful we were. We want to do the same again and we want to go one step further. We have all got a dream. We're pushing each other to be the best that we can and we know that whenever a player gets beaten by their opponent, we know there will be someone there, having each others' backs, no matter what."