FIFA Women’s World Cup continues without Africa
The FIFA Women’s World Cup round of 16 matches got off to a scorching start as Switzerland succumbed to an embarrassing 5-1 defeat. Their Spanish opponents were on fire!
Like Spain, the Dutch Lionesses moved a step closer to their World Cup dream, dashing Banyana Banyana’s hopes in the process. The Netherland’s brought South-Africa’s fairytale to an abrupt end with a 2-0 win. Jill Roord’s header gave the Dutch an early lead and Lineth Beerensteyn added the second goal after a goalkeeping error by Kaylin Swart in the second half that ended the game as a contest.
Sparks are sure to fly in Friday’s quarter-final clash between the Netherlands and Spain.
Earlier in the World Cup, Japan beat Norway 3-1 to reach the quarter-finals for the fourth time in its history. Hinata Miyazawa who has scored five goals in the competition so far is likely to pose a threat to their next challengers, Sweden. The Swedes sent the World Champions, The United States packing after an intense penalty shoot-out that ended 5-4. The four-time World Cup winners, famously known as The Stars and Stripes failed to impress in this edition. This may well spell the end of coach Andonovski reign.
One of the major highlights of the round of 16 matches was the colossal clash between Nigeria and her former colonizers. Despite going down to ten Women after a red card to Lauren James, Nigeria failed to take advantage of their numerical advantage. There were no goals to show after 120 minutes of play, so a penalty shoot-out followed for a spot in the quarterfinals. Both sides missed their first two penalty kicks, but England still managed to outscore Nigeria. Forward Chloe Kelly smashed in the winning penalty to set up a heated quarter-final meeting with Colombia who beat Jamaica 1-0 to qualify for the next round.
Meanwhile, France recorded a flawless display in her elimination of Africa’s last hope in the tournament. Le Sommer Eugenie scored a brace. Dali, Kenza and Diani, Kadidiatou were also on the scoresheets to secure an emphatic 4-0 win over Morocco. Their next opponents will be tournament hosts Australia who beat Denmark 2-0 in the electric atmosphere of Stadium Australia.
What an exciting tournament so far! Bring on the quarter-finals…