Argentina Women vs South Africa Women. Women's World Cup Group G.
Dunedin StadiumAttendance8,834.
Match report as South Africa took a two-goal lead but were pegged back by Argentina's second-half revival; Linda Motlhalo and Thembi Kgatlana found the net, before Sophia Braun and Romina Nunez levelled the scores; both nations have one point having played two Group G games
Friday 28 July 2023 08:09, UK
Argentina and South Africa had to settle for an exciting 2-2 draw in their Women's World Cup Group G clash at Dunedin Stadium, keeping both teams alive in the tournament but with slim chances of progression.
The South Americans had to fight back from 2-0 down after the Africans scored goals through Linda Motlhalo on the half-hour mark and Thembi Kgatlana in the 66th minute.
Motlhalo tapped the ball into the net from a Kgatlana pass after the winger had raced onto a long ball with the Argentine defenders standing still assuming she was offside. VAR confirmed Kgatlana had been behind the last defender.
For all their neat approach work, Argentina looked unable to threaten Kaylin Swart in the South African goal and their first attempt on target did not arrive until the second half.
In the 74th minute, though, Sophia Braun launched a stunning long-range strike that curled into the corner of the net to cut the deficit in half, before Romina Nunez's header five minutes later levelled up the scores.
The entertaining draw leaves both sides with a single point - South Africa's first in five World Cup matches - and highly unlikely to progress from a group also containing European powers Sweden and Italy, who play on Saturday.
"It is about taking our chances," said South Africa coach Desiree Ellis. "That's the problem, we don't take them, it comes back at us every time. If we had taken our chances we would have had a different conversation.
"It is fantastic we got our first point but three would have been better, it's like you hand me a chocolate and then take it away, and I love chocolate."
Argentina will now face Sweden on Wednesday, while South Africa play Italy at the same time with both teams looking for a historic first round-of-16 berth.
"We never gave up and we played our hearts out. We wanted to win but we are happy with this comeback," midfielder Braun said. "We are looking forward to playing Sweden. It will be another battle and we are ready for it."
The group stage has begun and runs over a two-week period finishing on August 3. Group winners and runners-up progress to the round of 16, which takes place from August 5 to August 8.
The quarter-finals, which will be held in Wellington, Auckland, Brisbane and Sydney, are scheduled for August 11 and 12.
The first semi-final will then be played on August 15 in Auckland, with the other semi-final taking place on August 16 at the Accor Stadium in Sydney, which will then host the final on August 20.
A third-place play-off will be played the day before the final on August 19 in Brisbane.
