South Africa are out of the ongoing Women’s World Cup jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, following a 2-0 defeat to The Netherlands, today, August 6.
Jill Roord scored after nine minutes to put the Dutch on their way against a team ranked 45 places below them and featuring in the knockout rounds for the first time. It was her fourth goal of the tournament.
South Africa’s goalkeeper Kaylin Swart then made a mess of an innocuous Lineth Beerensteyn shot midway through the second half to give the Dutch a second.
The 2019 runners-up also suffered some anxious moments in front of 40,000 football fans who turned up at the Sydney Football Stadium. The Dutch side had their goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar to thank for keeping the African champions at bay in the first half.
Banyana Banyana captain Thembi Kgatlana was a real handful and forced four fine saves from Daphne van Domselaar, Aston Villa’s new goalkeeper.
Following the win, The Netherlands will now face Spain without experienced midfielder Danielle van de Donk on Friday, August 11. She picked up her second yellow card of the tournament during the match against South Africa and has been suspended.
Speaking after the match, Netherlands coach Andries Jonker said;
“I’m very happy with a good win against a tough opponent. But the part of me that wants great football is disgruntled with the first half, where we gave the ball away too much. In the end, we deserved to win the game but it was a quite difficult first half by our own fault and the good work of South Africa.”
South Africa are expected to depart Australia on Monday, August 7, and will likely be accorded a hero’s welcome when they arrive at OR Tambo International Airport.
