The Netherlands ended Banyana Banyana’s historic run in the Women’s World Cup following their 2-0 victory at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday.

But the runners-up in 2019 had a few scary moments in front of 40,000 people in Sydney. Goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar kept the African champions from scoring in the first half.

After nine minutes, Jill Roord scored to put the Dutch ahead against a team 45 places below them in the rankings and playing in the knockout rounds for the first time.

The Dutch got a second goal when South Africa’s custodian Kaylin Swart messed up a harmless shot by Lineth Beerensteyn in the middle of the second half.

The Netherlands will play Spain in the last eight on Friday, but Van Domselaar had to step up many times.

“It wasn’t our best game but happy to play my part in the clean sheet,” said the stopper, who plays for Aston Villa and was named player of the match.

“I don’t know if it was my best (game) but I will be looking back with pride.”

After the game, Netherlands coach Andries Jonker was happy that his team didn’t become the latest to be shocked at the World Cup.

He said that his team can beat anyone, but he was very upset with how they played in the first half.

“We lost the ball too often in the first half and gave a few chances away,” he said.

“Daphne saved us a few times and I was happy to lead 1-0 at half-time.

“We did much better in the second half and had much more control of the game.

“We deserved to score again and in the end deserved to win.”

South Africa, which is ranked 54th, will kick themselves because their captain, Thembi Kgatlana, had almost all of their chances in the first 45 minutes.

On the sixth minute, the striker shot straight at Van Domselaar, which was something that would happen a lot.

Three minutes later, the Dutch took the lead when midfielder Roord headed in a corner kick from close range for her fourth goal of the tournament.

South Africa’s first-ever win at the World Cup came when Kgatlana scored the game-winning goal against Italy. Her speed made her a constant threat.

The US-based Kgatlana had four more chances to score in the first half.

Desiree Ellis, the coach of South Africa, was proud, but she thought her team should have won.

“We had a lot of chances, especially in the first half, to kill off the game,” she said.

“The chances we created should have put us out of sight.”

Photo by Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix