More stories

  • in

    Spain Beats Netherlands to Reach First World Cup Semifinal

    Salma Paralluelo’s goal in extra time delivered a victory over the Netherlands and a date with Sweden.Salma Paralluelo might not have chosen soccer. It was not her only option, certainly. A 19-year-old Spain striker, Paralluelo was a bright prospect in track and field, too, such a gifted runner that she might even have represented her country at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago. Her chosen discipline was the 400 meters. She still holds the national under-20 record at the distance.She is also, it turns out, just the person her country needed at the end of a marathon.Spain’s meeting with the Netherlands on Friday in the quarterfinals of this Women’s World Cup was always likely to be close. As Spain’s draining, narrow, 2-1 victory proved, close may have been an understatement. There is barely a hair’s breadth between these teams: the Spanish, Europe’s great power-in-waiting, and the Dutch, famed for their talent but noteworthy for their resilience.Four years ago, that mixture was enough to carry the Netherlands to the World Cup final against the United States. This year, it was starting to look as if a repeat trip might be in the cards. Andries Jonker’s team had advanced from the group phase in a style more impressive than spectacular. It had finished, most significantly, ahead of the United States. Thanks to the reflexes and concentration of Daphne van Domselaar, its goalkeeper, it had held South Africa at bay in the round of 16.The Netherlands might have been missing its cutting edge — the star striker Vivianne Miedema is one of the many players absent from this World Cup because of a serious knee injury — but it had found a way to make up for that by dulling everyone else’s. The squad’s confidence was growing sufficiently that forward Lineth Beerensteyn could even afford to take a little swipe at the United States team when she met with reporters before the game. There had, Beerensteyn said, been too much talk from the Americans, who lost to Sweden in the round of 16. “You have to do it on the pitch,” she said.For a while, it seemed as if she would be good to her word. In the bright winter sunshine of Wellington, New Zealand, Spain dominated possession, because Spain always dominates possession. Spain created chances, too, because Spain always creates chances.Spain hit the post twice in a matter of seconds.Amanda Perobelli/ReutersBut it could not breach the Dutch. Whenever it picked its way through the massed ranks of the defense, Spain found van Domselaar, as indomitable as ever, repelling whatever it could muster.And when van Domselaar was beaten, Spain found that the physical infrastructure of the stadium was choosing sides: Midway through the first half, Alba Redondo hit the post twice in a matter of seconds. A few minutes later, Esther González had a goal ruled out for offside, though only after the referee, Stéphanie Frappart, had consulted a video replay.It was that sort of game: one of slender differences and considerable what-ifs. For Spain — what if Redondo had scored, or if Frappart had noticed that Stefanie van der Gragt had handled the ball in the scramble to clear it; or if González had delayed her run a fraction of a second? But, more than anything, it was for the Netherlands.What if the penalty won by Beerensteyn for what seemed a clear push from Spain defender Irene Paredes had not been overturned? The Netherlands might have led, rather than finding itself, barely a heartbeat later, falling behind after Mariona Caldentey converted the only penalty of three that should, or could, have been awarded.Jackie Groenen and the Netherlands turned in a relentless defensive effort.Grant Down/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesAnd what if Beerensteyn had scored any one of the three clear-cut opportunities that fell her way as the game entered its dying embers? The Dutch had at least taken the game the distance, van der Gragt salving her conscience after her hand ball led to Caldentey’s penalty by unceremoniously drilling home an equalizing goal as the game ticked into injury time.Beerensteyn twice might have won it, might have kept the Dutch in the tournament, but she could convert neither chance.Paralluelo was more efficient. She picked up the ball from Jenni Hermoso, shimmied her hip and dropped her shoulder and burst clear into the Dutch penalty area, moving too quickly and too easily for the straining Dutch defense. She steadied herself and swept a shot, low and left-footed, past van Domselaar.The Netherlands’ race is run. Spain’s might just be picking up speed. More

  • in

    A Two-Goal Lead Disappears, So Argentina Has to Do It the Hard Way

    LUSAIL, Qatar — Argentina almost did it the easy way. For a while, Lionel Messi and his teammates were coasting. They had a two-goal lead against the Netherlands, and just a few minutes to see out. They were comfortable. And then, all of a sudden, they were not. They got there in the end, of course, but it would not be Argentina if there was not a little suffering.It had all seemed like such smooth sailing. Argentina had won even as its battalions of fans, decked out in sky blue and white, were still filling the steep, banked stands of the Lusail Stadium: A few miles away, Brazil had been eliminated by Croatia, Argentina’s fiercest rival and the most intimidating obstacle on its route to the final vanquished in one fell swoop.Barely a couple of hours later, the second victory seemed secure. Messi had created Argentina’s first goal, threading a pass of delicate brilliance into the path of Nahuel Molina, and scored its second, converting a penalty after Marcos Acuña had been tripped by Denzel Dumfries.As Messi stood in front of Argentina’s fans, his arms outstretched in front of him, as if waiting for their gratitude for the gift he had bestowed upon them, many in the crowd would have allowed their thoughts to wander to next week, to the meeting with Croatia, or even a little further still, to what they have come to refer to as “la tercera,” the country’s third World Cup.Argentina’s players celebrated in the direction of the Dutch after they won in a penalty shootout.Peter Cziborra/ReutersThe prospect felt, in that moment, less of a fever dream than ever. Argentina’s campaign in Qatar started with one of the most searing humiliations in the country’s sporting history: beaten, here at Lusail, by a Saudi Arabia team that had barely been granted a second thought in the weeks leading to the tournament.That loss, with its echoes of Argentina’s defeat to Cameroon in 1990, shredded the team’s delicate confidence. The nation indulged in a bout of soul-searching and teeth-gnashing. The players held tense, emotionally charged meetings. Lionel Scaloni, the coach, took a team that had not lost a game for almost three years and ripped it up to start again from scratch. These are not, as a rule, reliable indicators of forthcoming success.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More