South Africa defeated Italy by 3-2 in a dramatic last match of Group G in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The victory and qualification of the African women for the round of 16 is historic, as the triumph for them came after a late goal by Thembi Kgatlana (90+2′), as Benedetta Orsi (32′- avt.), Hilda Magaya (67′) had previously scored for South Africa, while Arianna Caruso scored twice for Italy (11′ penalty, 74′).
The match started better for the Italian players, who were awarded a penalty in the 11th minute, which Arianna Caruso converted into a goal. However, South Africa did not give up and in the 32nd minute, after a good counterattack, Benedetta Orsi had the misfortune of scoring an own goal, after which the score became 1-1.
In the second half, the African women played even better and made a complete turnaround. After a good pass from Thembi Kgatlana, Hilda Magaya scored for 2-1 in the 67th minute with a nice left foot strike. Just seven minutes later, however, the Squadra Azura equalized, again through Ariana Caruso, who scored after a Cristiana Girelli’s assist. A draw was in favor for Italy, which was advance to the Round of 16, but the drama was yet to come. In the second minute of the 11-minute extra time given by the referee, Hilda Magaya made a good pass to Thembi Kgatlana who scored from close range for the heartbreaking 3-2.
Italy were unable to equalize until the end of the match and thus South Africa achieved a historic first victory and first ranking in the eliminations phase of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. In the round of 16, the African women will face the Netherlands.
In the other match of the group Sweden defeated Argentina by 2-0. Rebecka Blomqvist (66′ and 90′) scored twice for the winners.
The leader in Group G is Sweden with full active of 9 points, following by South Africa with 4 points, Italy with 3 points and Argentina with only 1 point.
