Despite a spirited performance by the South African Women’s football team, Banyana Banyana were knocked out of the Fifa World Cup this morning when they went down 2-0 to the Netherlands.
They bowed out of the competition after an impressive performance that saw them claim a spot in the last 16 of the prestigious tournament.
The Dutch had a great start to the outing with a Jill Roord header opening the score in the ninth minute.
Nearly an hour later, Holland sealed the deal when Lineth Beerentseyn struck past the fumble of Banyana keeper Kaylin Swart in the 64th
An exciting contest sees @OranjeVrouwen advance to the Quarter-Finals! 🧡
How far will they go? 👀
— FIFA Women’s World Cup (@FIFAWWC) August 6, 2023
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Right from the start, the Dutch outmuscled the South Africans in midfield, forcing Banyana to work hard to contain their strong running.
The quarter-finalists opened the scoring via a training ground corner, Sherida Spitse drilling in from the right for Victoria Pelova to head a save from Swart, Roord able to head in the rebound on the goal line.
In the second half, neither team made any changes, and Beerensteyn had the opportunity to increase Holland’s lead. Lieke Martens was assisted by Beerensteyn in the 54th minute, but VAR disallowed the goal because it was offside. Swart made a costly error in the 67th minute, allowing Netherlands to increase their lead to 2-0, and Beerensteyn’s perseverance was rewarded. Five minutes later, Linda Motlhalo had a chance to restore parity, but the Dutch goalkeeper made a save.
Written by Murray Swart for Cape Town ETC.
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Feature Image: Twitter /@FIFAWWC
