Jill Roord, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring the first goal Sunday during a 2-0 win over South Africa in a Women’s World Cup round-of-16 match in Sydney, Australia. Mark Baker/Associated Press
SYDNEY— Netherlands had just advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup, yet star midfielder Danielle van de Donk looked inconsolable.
Her yellow card in the second half of a 2-0 win over South Africa on Sunday means she will serve a one-match suspension. Her tears were likely in realization that she may have played her final match of the tournament if the Dutch lose to Spain in the quarterfinals.
But Netherlands Coach Andries Jonker had no time for any negativity.
“We’ve come with the conviction that we can beat everybody. And if you say we can beat everybody, it includes all teams, South Africa, but also Spain,” he said. “So it means it’s not the last game for Danielle. We want to beat Spain, then she can come back into the tournament.”
The Dutch certainly appear to be contenders again after losing to the United States in the 2019 final.
After finishing above the Americans in Group E this time, they overcame South Africa at Sydney Football Stadium through goals from Jill Roord in the first half and Lineth Beerensteyn in the second.
Spain is among the title favorites, and backed up its billing with a 5-1 win over Switzerland in the round of 16.
The Netherlands had to work harder for its place in the last eight, with goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar producing a player-of-the-match performance, making a string of saves to keep South Africa at bay.
Her teammates were quick to acknowledge her game-saving efforts, rushing to embrace her after the final whistle.
“We felt we could have won this game, and if I look back, we should have with the opportunities that we had, but we didn’t take them,” South Africa Coach Desiree Ellis said. “If you look at their goalkeeper getting the player of the match, it tells you how well we played.”
Netherlands was also aided by an error from South Africa keeper Kaylin Swart, who let Beerensteyn’s weak effort squirm out of her grasp and over the line.
Just like van de Donk, Swart appeared devastated after the final whistle as teammates and staff consoled her.
“Nobody in the world has a perfect game,” Ellis said. “You are going to make a mistake and unfortunately that happened, but she kept us in the game as well.”
South Africa had already exceeded expectations by advancing to the knockout stage for the first time after its dramatic 3-2 win over Italy in its final group game.
But the goals from Roord in the ninth minute and Beerensteyn in the 68th ended its unlikely run.
NOTES
AUSTRALIA: Sam Kerr wasn’t needed as Australia advanced to the knockout stages of the Women’s World Cup.
But the Matildas’ inspirational captain is finally expected to get on the field against Denmark in the round of 16 on Monday,
“I’m really excited. I will play,” Kerr told Australia’s Nine TV network.
The star striker has been sidelined since injuring her left calf on the eve of co-host Australia’s first game against Ireland on July 20.
Though she recovered well enough to make the bench against Canada, Coach Tony Gustavsson didn’t have to ask the Chelsea forward to perform a rescue act, as the Matildas routed Canada, 4-0, to top Group B and eliminate the 2021 Olympic champions.
While it is still not clear if she will be in the starting 11 against Denmark, both Kerr and Gustavsson are talking as if she will make her entrance at the World Cup.
“We had a nice moment as a team yesterday, to see her back with the boots on and touching the ball and be with the team training,” Gustavsson said Sunday. “And it was a very good feeling for her and a very good feeling for the players and the teammates and a very good feeling for me.”
ENGLAND: Keira Walsh gave England a potential boost ahead of its round-of-16 clash with Nigeria when the midfielder was able to practice with the team Sunday, one day before the elimination match.
Walsh sustained a knee injury in England’s 1-0 win against Denmark in the second game of the group stage. Scans showed she didn’t damage her ACL, but it wasn’t clear if Walsh would be able to play again this tournament.
Walsh, who plays for Barcelona, participated in individual training to regain her fitness and finally rejoined her teammates in Sunday’s practice. England plays Nigeria on Monday in Brisbane, Australia.
England Coach Sarina Wiegman confirmed Walsh had returned to the squad and “she’s doing well.”
“We’ll wait to see how she recovers from the training session and if she does well, she’s available for tomorrow,” Wiegman said at a news conference on Sunday, declining to elaborate further on the extent of Walsh’s injury. “I can only say there wasn’t a ligament injury. That’s all I can say right now.”
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