FIFA Women’s World Cup: Spain in the semi-finals

For the first time in its history, Spain reached the semi-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup with a 2-1 extra-time victory over the Netherlands.

The video referees were busy in the match with at least three interventions.

In the first half, in the 38th minute, Esther Gonzalez and Alba Redondo combined beautifully to score the first goal of the match, but the video assistant referee kept it offside.

On the hour mark, Lenneth Berenstein was clipped in the penalty area by Irene Paredes, and the referee pointed directly at the penalty spot. However, his colleagues in the video room decided the footage did not merit a foul, and the decision was reversed.

Fifteen minutes later, Spain’s Selma Baraluelo crossed the ball into the area and was touched by Stephanie van der Gragt. After review, the 9-yard snap was awarded. Striker Mariona Caldente did not miss her chance and beat the Dutch goalkeeper on her right. His shot hit the post before entering, enough to spark the excitement of the 32,021 fans gathered at Sky Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand.

But not so fast! Defender Van der Graagt ​​redeemed herself in the best possible way by sneaking behind a defence Roja to tie the game at 92 and force overtime.

Then, in overtime, Baraloilo got back on the charge. The Spanish winger exploded down the left and managed to open a shooting window to get there with a perfect left shot to thwart goalkeeper Daphne van Doumselaar. The Spaniards held out for ten minutes after the objective.

So the Dutch cannot repeat the exploits of four years ago, when they lost in the final to the United States in the 2019 edition.

Among the winners, we note that Oihan Hernandez will be suspended from participating in the semi-finals because she received a yellow card in the match, which is the second in the tournament.