Jorge Vilda was more interested in the aftermath in Spain if his team won their FIFA Women’s World Cup quarter-final than he was about a rattling magnitude 5.0 earthquake that shook Wellington an hour before kick-off against the Netherlands yesterday.
Salma Paralluelo was unshaken by the temblor or the high-pressure stakes, scoring late in extra-time to give Spain a 2-1 victory and a place in the semi-finals for the first time.
“We were so concentrated,” Spain coach Vilda said, recalling how his team prepared for the game even as the ground shook. “Yes, it was a middle [moderate] shake, an earthquake, but not today. The earthquake was the victory of Spain.”
Photo: Reuters
Nineteen-year-old Paralluelo started the match on the bench for the first time at this World Cup and made her entry just in time to make history.
Spain dominated a scoreless first half and 2019 finalists the Netherlands had a penalty scrubbed out by the video referee in the 62nd minute after a tussle between Irene Paredes and Netherlands forward Lineth Beerensteyn.
Mariona Caldentey scored from the penalty-spot in the 81st minute after defender Stefanie van der Gragt was penalized for hand ball as a cross was fired into the area.
Photo: AFP
Then Van der Gragt, moving up front, equalized in stoppage-time to make it 1-1 and send the match into extra-time.
Paralluelo broke down the left off Jennie Hermosa’s pass in the 111th minute of the extra period, swiveled past one defender, propped and sent her left-foot shot into the far corner of the net.
“It was a unique moment, great euphoria to have lived through that,” Paralluelo said.
Photo: AFP
Vilda rode the roller-coaster of emotions that fans in Spain and the Netherlands, watching a match that for them kicked-off at 3am, and the 32,000 fans in the stadium experienced.
“They played an extraordinary level, all players, and there was a match with a lot of emotions,” Vilda said. “And the goal from Salma, it was sheer joy. We had to wait for a few minutes to get the end result of the whistle in the end, and I’m extremely happy.”
Vilda was confident that fans who watched in the early morning would not have been disappointed.
“It’s a great day for Spanish women’s football,” he said. “We’ve reached somewhere we’ve never reached before, and done it playing a good game as well, with a team that is convinced that we can go even further.”
He praised Paralluelo, a student athlete who specialized at running the 400m before turning to soccer, for filling her role so expertly, particular at a time when superstar Alexia Putellas’ playing time has been limited.
“Well, she came in or she helped us with what we wanted to achieve,” he said. “We wanted to rest our central defenders and in the second half Salma with her speed was going to be a substitute with other wingers who are very quick.”
“Salma is a player with an enormous potential. And she’s not reached her best yet,” he said.
The Netherlands were unusually passive in the first half, at their most dangerous when they sent long balls forward.
Beerensteyn was the greatest threat to Spain through the second half and in extra-time, when she had two good chances but could not convert.
Spain also had narrow misses, in the 17th minute when Alba Redondo hit the post twice.
For the Netherlands, the penalty that was awarded and then overturned was difficult to come to terms with.
“Well, look, I think the VAR didn’t do their work properly, but they [Spain] deserved to win,” Netherlands coach Andries Jonker said. “It’s just that this decision was wrong. It was wrong.”
“The main thing is, this is the Netherlands, we can play football, and we can win against Spain,” Jonker said.
The Netherlands lost 2-0 to the US in the 2019 World Cup final and this was another hard loss to take, coming by such fine margins.
“We are part again of the top of the world,” Jonker said. “Looking at our games against Germany, the US and Spain [at this tournament], we’re right there.”
“We did our best,” he added. “We tried to camouflage our weaknesses and show out strengths, but there’s only one solution: You have to play forward, you have to get the ball, stay on the ball, make the game and step one was fantastic. What we showed during this tournament, sometimes it was fantastic, sometimes it was less than that.”
Spain are to meet No. 3-ranked Sweden in the semi-finals after they defeated 2011 champions Japan 2-1 later yesterday.
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