South Africa 3 Italy 2
Thembi Kgatlana overcame personal tragedy and a serious injury to deliver South Africa’s first Women’s World Cup win on Wednesday, booking a spot in the knockout stages with a last-gasp 3-2 upset over Italy in Wellington.
Italy were on track to salvage a draw and a place in the last 16 when Arianna Caruso levelled in the 74th minute but Kgatlana refused to quit, sending in the stoppage-time winner off a neat flick from Hildah Magaia.
“Over the last three weeks, I’ve lost three family members. I could have went home, but I chose to stay with my girls,” Kgatlana said. “Because that’s how much it means.”
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The Racing Louisville forward suffered a torn Achilles tendon in 2022, an injury that kept her sidelined for some 10 months and nearly cost her a trip to her second World Cup.
“I came back from a very, brutal injury to be here, to play for the country, to represent every single girl that wanted to be here, to make history with the girls for South Africa,” she said.
Sweden beat them 2-1 with a 90th-minute winner in their opener and the team were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw in their second group match against Argentina, after blowing a two-goal lead.
But Kgatlana said she and her team mates walked into Wednesday’s match ready to “dig deep” despite the frustrating previous results.
“Today we just told ourselves, we have to fight,” she said. “We were the underdogs and I think it worked perfectly for us. When you play that underdog, they come out running for you and we knew that in terms of pace, they weren’t like us, and it’s something that we could utilize for the victory.”
They will face the Netherlands in the last 16 in Sydney on Sunday, after finishing second in Group G behind Sweden.
The Swedes qualified for the knockout stages with a perfect record after Rebecka Blomqvist’s second-half header and substitute Elin Rubensson’s 90th-minute penalty helped them beat Argentina 2-0.
Blomqvist met Sofia Jakobsson’s cross with a fantastic header in the 66th minute to put the third-ranked Swedes firmly on course to advance as Group G winners, with Rubensson sealing the win with a superbly taken spot kick.
“We had to have some patience,” Blomqvist said. “Argentina defended well and closed off a lot of spaces. We felt at halftime that if we just continued doing what we were doing we’d break them down, and more space opened up towards the end.”
Sweden will next face holders United States in a blockbuster clash in Melbourne on Sunday - a rematch of the Olympic quarter-finals in 2021 when the Europeans won 3-0 en route to the final.
