South Africa 3-2 Italy: Womens World Cup, Group G as it happened | Women's World Cup 2023
2 Aug 202310.21 BSTBut they’re not our story today, not by a long chalk. Taken simply as a game of football, what we’ve just seen was mindblowing; taken as a social, cultural earthquake, a reward for decades of pain, an expression of the human spirit and the unbeatable power of South African womanhood, it’s something different entirely, an eternal moment that encapsulates exactly why we’re here. Thanks for your company and comments; what a night!
Spare a though, though, for Italy, whose players are on the turf, desolate. They contributed to a classic, though, which won’t alleviate the agony but remains the case. They’ll be back, much stronger, for the Euros.
2 Aug 202310.15 BSTGoodness me, Kgatlana is so overjoyed she’s inconsolable. I’ve not often, if ever, seen scenes like these, the special nature of South Africa, the indomitable spirit of South African women, bathing our competition in joy, love, identity and meaning. Banyana Banyana!
2 Aug 202310.13 BSTOh – my – days! What match that was, and the SA players are so happy they’re anguished, the weight of everything exploding within them. Some huddle, Kgatlana collapses on her own, unable to raise her head, and what a performance she put in tonight, a World Cup all-time great.
2 Aug 202310.11 BSTFULL TIME: South Africa 3-2 Italy
South Africa go through to meet the Netherlands! Football is unrivalled, undefeated, eternal, and this tournament! Well!
2 Aug 202310.10 BST90+16 min Italy build again; this has got to be the final play…
2 Aug 202310.10 BST90+15 min Back on the SA bench, players nervously clutch themselves, the moment of their lifetime, that their lives have built to, within grasp … yet not. Dhlamini is stretchered off, Holweni replacing her, and surely this is over now?!
2 Aug 202310.08 BST90+13 min Having blocked a cross with her thigh, Dhlamini is down. It didn’t look like anything was wrong but her teammates are around her calling for a stretcher.
2 Aug 202310.08 BST90+12 min Cantore down the right, and Mbane, who’s been an absolute giant, flings her body in the road. The trouble these players have gone to for our beloved game, battling for acceptance, to play, to be paid; it’s moving just to think about, and my eyeballs may or may not be sweating. I’ve no dog in this fight, but what it’ll mean if SA can hang on, goodness me.
Updated at 10.09 BST2 Aug 202310.06 BST90+12 min Our 11 allotted minutes are gone….
2 Aug 202310.06 BST90+10 min South Africa have seen this out pretty well so far, pressing from the front, and on the bench, Magaia and Moodaly hold each other, tears in eyes and tension unbearable. The scope of this achievement for SA is colossal … if they can hang on.
2 Aug 202310.04 BST90+9 min Change for Italy, Glionna replacing Orsi.
2 Aug 202310.04 BST90+8 min Whichever of these qualify, by the way, meets Netherlands next.
2 Aug 202310.03 BST90+8 min I wonder if, SA progress, whether Jane and/or Cesane will be fit for the last 16 tie. But in the meantime, Italy try to affect composure as they move the ball across the back four seeking a gap through which to play.
2 Aug 202310.02 BST90+7 min Kgatlana’s performance has reminded me a little of El-Hadji Diouf’s for Senegal against Argentina in 2002. Don’t laugh, Diouf was fantastic that day, a one-man forward line with the touch, intelligence, quality and edge to occupy an entire back four.
2 Aug 202310.00 BST90+6 min What a match this has been. What a match this is.
2 Aug 202310.00 BST90+5 min Double change for SA, Shongwe and Makhubela replacing Magaia and Ramalepe.
2 Aug 202309.59 BST90+4 min Italy try taking their time and a ball into the box finds Girelli, who brings down, then Giacinti collects, wriggling away from challenges in search of a shooting lane as the SA defenders wave legs, Kgoale desperately trying to block a shot that doesn’t come, then the shot does come, lashed inches over the bar!
2 Aug 202309.57 BSTGOOOAAALLLLL! South Africa 3-2 Italy (Kgatlana 90+2)
IT HAD TO BE HER! A ball down the right and Seposwene collects, calmly picking a square pass that Magaia, who’s been superb second half, bursts onto, beating her defender on the outside. She might shoot, but instead squares, and there’s Kgatlana to sweep home from a few yards! Her team are going through and FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL!
90+1 min Sweden now lead Argentina 2-0. They win Group G with three wins from three; who’ll qualify with them?
90 min It’s 11 minutes, and SA have time to build pressure, rather than simply hope a Hail Mary comes off.
2 Aug 202309.53 BST90 min So how many added minutes might we get? We’ve had two goals and lots of celebration and fuss after one, loads of subs, a couple of injuries; I’m going for 12 minutes.
2 Aug 202309.52 BST88 min SA come again, the irrepressible Kgalana sliding Magaia in behind. She can’t, though, conjure a shooting lane so goes wide and dinks in a cross that, deflected, has Durante scrambling to fumble away from under the bar!
2 Aug 202309.51 BST86 min if they don’t score, SA will rue the leads lost in their first two games – and also the way they started today. But in the meantime, Cantore makes ground down the right, teases Matlou, diddles her down the outside, and sticks it on a plate for Girelli … whose measured, deliberate finish allows Swart to save with her feet. That should’ve been curtains; will Italy regret the oversight?!
2 Aug 202309.49 BST85 min It’s still Argentina 0-1 Sweden.
85 min Since the equaliser, Italy have done a pretty good job of disappearing time; of course they have.
2 Aug 202309.47 BST84 min Two changes for Italy: Greggi and Cantore for Caruso, the goalscorer, and Beccari.
2 Aug 202309.47 BST82 min Tell you what, Kgatlana is a very very fine player. I’m a WSL manager – for avoidance of doubt, I’m not – I’m doing whatever I can to get her, because not only does she have the technical and physical attributes, she has the kind of personality that’s able to refocus a game so that it’s all about her.
Updated at 09.48 BST2 Aug 202309.45 BST81 min We see the goal again and it really is a fantastic flick from Girelli at the front post. Caruso may indeed have been offside, but we’re not allowed to see the situation from the relevant angle.
2 Aug 202309.44 BST80 min What a half this has been. And we’re not finished, not by a long chalk. SA need a goal to progress, and have shown every sign of being able to get one.
2 Aug 202309.43 BST78 min SA win a corner down the left, Magaia swings in, and Gamede heads hard but over.
2 Aug 202309.42 BST78 min What price that Durante save now? SA were almost 3-1 in front!
2 Aug 202309.42 BST77 min It’s a goal!
77 min …and check something. They’ve not told us what – offside against Caruso? – Cheers lads!
Updated at 09.44 BSTncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJ6fpMGjrculZqWhppp8c3yRbGaarZdkfXN70qisraBdlrOztcKaZK9lmamurcWMsKamnZ6oeri70aWbZpulpXqovs6up2afXaG2t7E%3D