Spain passes through the Netherlands and is in the semifinals of the World Cup – 08/11/2023 – Sports

In an unprecedented result in its history, Spain reached the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup. The selection defeated the Netherlands by 2 to 1 in the early hours of this Friday (11, Brasilia time), for the quarterfinals of the tournament.

The team controlled most of the match and could have defined in the 90 minutes. It took a draw in extra time and scored the winning goal only in overtime.

In the next phase, Spain will face the winner of the clash between Japan and Sweden, which also takes place this Friday.

The Netherlands decided to play only after 36 minutes in the 2nd half, when they were behind on the scoreboard. For 81 minutes, he stayed in defense, little bothered the opposing defense and was dominated. Except for Beeresnteyn’s attacks, the current world runner-up offered little offensively.

Spain was comfortable in the match, exchanging passes and calmly trying to reach the goal. The lack of urgency and momentum may have meant that the selection was unable to resolve the classification without needing extra time.

Winner of the Fifa award for the best on the planet in 2022 and 2021, Alexis Putellas started on the Spanish bench, just as it had already happened in the round of 16, against Switzerland. The Barcelona star came on just 13 minutes from time. This Friday, she was called to just at the end of the first half of overtime.

All the dominance of the team nicknamed Fury was not shown on the scoreboard. Esther González deflected towards the goal after Redondo’s header, but the VAR showed that the attacker was offside and the bid was disallowed.

Spain’s attacking clash against the Netherlands’ defense was evident when the team hit the post twice in the same play. In both, Redondo tried from inside the area, first with his head, then with his foot.

Nothing changed at the beginning of the complementary stage, but the lack of category at the time of finishing almost did not result in punishment for the Spaniards. The Netherlands were awarded a penalty in the 17th minute for pushing the back of Beeresnteyn. But this time the video referee helped the winning team. The appointment has been cancelled.

The penalty would only be confirmed by VAR at 36, when it was found that defender Stefanie van der Gragt, with 106 caps for the Dutch national team, had deflected an innocuous cross from the rival with her arm when she was inside the area. Striker Mariona Caldentey scored.

At a disadvantage, the team suddenly realized they were disputing a place in the semifinals of the World Cup. He started to advance the appointment and press the ball output. Beeresnteyn was the biggest threat with her speed and urgency that her teammates seemed to lack. Twice he entered the area with the ball dominated, but missed the shots.

Who did not miss was the same van der Gragt who had committed the penalty. At 47, she received a pass at the edge of the area and kicked it as a center forward to equalize and take the game into overtime.

In the 30 minutes of added time, the confrontation was balanced. With the Netherlands also attacking, Spain found the counterattack fatal at 6 of the second half, in a shot by Salma Paralluelo, 19, who touched the crossbar and went in to define the unprecedented spot for Fúria.