Holland Women vs South Africa Women. Women's World Cup Round of 16.
Allianz StadiumAttendance40,233.
Match report as Jill Roord and Lineth Beerensteyn score to give the Netherlands a 2-0 win over South Africa in the Women's World Cup last 16; African champions were making their first appearance in the knockouts; Netherlands will play Spain in the quarter-finals on Friday
Sunday 6 August 2023 08:50, UK
Jill Roord scored her fourth goal of the Women's World Cup as the Netherlands marched into the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over South Africa in Sydney.
Roord's header gave her side an early lead and Lineth Beerensteyn added the second goal courtesy of a goalkeeping error in the second half to secure the Dutch a date with Spain in Wellington on Friday.
The 54th-ranked African champions never gave up the fight in their first appearance in the World Cup knockout stage and were always a threat on the break through their lone striker Thembi Kgatlana.
But Dutch goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar was equal to everything Banyana Banyana fired at her and the 2019 finalists progressed to the last eight for the second successive tournament.
"I'm very happy with a good win against a tough opponent," said Netherlands coach Andries Jonker. "But the part of me that wants great football is disgruntled with the first half, where we gave the ball away too much."
The Dutch started well, taking the lead from a corner in the ninth minute when Danielle van de Donk headed the ball towards goal and defender Lebohang Ramalepe got in goalkeeper Kaylin Swart's way to present Roord with a simple finish.
Banyana Banyana responded immediately, with striker Thembi Kgatlana's fine first touch on a through ball giving her space to unleash a shot that forced a save out of Van Domselaar.
Kgatlana was a constant warning to the Dutch against complacency, getting away three shots in the 10 minutes before half-time that tested Van Domselaar, who also had to be at her best to stop a Kholosa Biyana piledriver in stoppage time.
Ten minutes into the second half, winger Lieke Martens had a goal disallowed for offside, but the Dutch did double their lead in the 68th minute.
Beerensteyn was played through and shot across Swart, who appeared to have the everything under control but fumbled her catch and watched the ball squirt into the net.
South Africa again responded well to conceding but Van Domselaar was equal to it, getting down low to turn Linda Motlhalo's low drive around the post five minutes later.
Banyana Banyana had one last chance to get on the scoreboard in stoppage time, almost inevitably through Kgatlana, but there was no way past Van Domselaar.
"Yesterday we spoke about needing to score more goals and we had the opportunities, especially in the first half," said South Africa coach Desiree Ellis.
"I'm just proud, disappointed of course, but really proud of this group of players."
The Netherlands will now play Spain in the quarter-finals in Wellington on Friday; kick-off 2am.
The round of 16 takes place from August 5 to August 8, with eight games being played across Australia and New Zealand.
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.
