Netherlands dash South Africa's hopes with 2-0 knockout victory

The Netherlands ended South Africa’s historic first foray into the knockout stages of the Women’s World Cup on Sunday with a confident 2-0 victory in Sydney.

The Banyana Banyana found themselves on the backfoot early on when a failed clearance in the ninth minute gifted Jill Roord an easy header into a open net and the Dutch midfielder’s fourth goal of the tournament.

Despite that setback the South Africans kept up the fight and had plenty of chances.

Captain Thembi Kgatlana was especially menacing, firing multiple shots on target only to be denied by a series of strong saves from Dutch goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar.

Shortly after the second half began, Dutch winger Lieke Martens saw a goal disallowed for offside.

But the South Africans then saw their fate sealed in the 68th minute after what should have been an easily saveable strike by Lineth Beerensteyn slipped through Kaylin Swart’s hands into the back of the net, the latter slamming her hands into the pitch in frustration.

The victory now means the 2019 finalists will go up against Spain in the quarter finals in Wellington on Friday.

While South Africa are going home, 2023 has already been a historic tournament for the side, especially after a dramatic winner from Kgatlana in stoppage time last Wednesday secured a 3-2 victory over Italy, her team’s first ever win at this tournament.

Banyana Banyana also came within minutes of drawing against Sweden, another more fancied opponent, in its opening match at this tournament.

The Netherlands and South Africa last met in April 2022 with the latter easily dispatched 5-1.

The Netherlands laid down a marker during the group stages of this year’s World Cup with a comprehensive 7-0 victory over Vietnam, a 1-1 draw against the US and a 1-0 win against Portugal, even without its all-time leading scorer Vivianne Miedema who has missed the tournament after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

“From the beginning of our preparations, we were quite convinced we can beat every opponent in this tournament,” Netherlands coach Andries Jonker told FIFA ahead of Sunday’s game.

“Of course, it helps if you qualify first when the United States is in your group, you win 7-0 and you make wonderful goals … So I think we can rightfully state that we will be able to win against anybody, but we have to make it happen.”

Such results propelled the Dutch team to the top of its group, ahead of two-time defending champion USA, just a year after crashing out of the Women’s Euro in the quarterfinals.