SYDNEY — This World Cup has lost its South Africans, their thrill, their skill, their verve and their ferocity. It has gained itself a hell of a quarterfinal between Spain and the Netherlands, which beat gallant South Africa, 2-0, on a cloudy winter Sunday at Sydney Football Stadium. But South Africa’s players might have gained something even grander, something to carry through customs.
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They have gained their first visit to the knockout stage in only their second World Cup. They have gained hope and curiosity about the journey ahead. They have gained that thing often hard to come by in this world: confidence. And through their four matches — a 2-1 loss to mighty Sweden after leading, a 2-2 draw with Argentina that made them mad, a dramatic 3-2 win over Italy and the Netherlands match — they have gained one doozy of a life experience.
“Mystical,” said Nomvula Kgoale, 27. “Mystical. There isn’t anything else that matches it. Emotionally, spiritually, mentally, physically mystical. I can’t put it in words. . . . Every single time I stepped on the field, I feel like I was, I can’t say ‘Cloud Nine,’ because I’m trying to find words, but it’s so difficult. I mean awe. I’m in awe every single time. I feel like I’m fulfilling something in me. And so every single touch I made, every single run, every single voice I heard, every single moment, it was out of this world for me.”
Speak on, eloquent one.
“Now we are more pompous,” she said. “We know what we want from ourselves. We have standards. Now it’s no longer about rankings or looking at a team as larger than life that you cannot be able to reach or you cannot be able to challenge. Now it’s a different story: ‘I’m a player. You’re a player. I’m a human being. You’re a human being. We’re equals.’ All that’s left on the field is that the ball is rolling. It could go either way.”
They took the pitch against a giant before a sellout of 40,233 who tilted toward the underdogs. They had the smaller chunk of possession all told but the larger share of woolly chances. They played as a program that struggled to three losses in France in 2019 against the program that was the runner-up to the United States that year. They showcased forward Thembi Kgatlana, who plays for Racing Louisville of the NSWL — “She’s a great player,” Dutch players declared — and who scored that stoppage-time goal against Italy on the fine cross from Hildah Magaia. They forced Dutch goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar into lunges and saves both formulaic and acrobatic, even as they tired in the second half.
They epitomized soccer’s elemental harshness so that Kgoale said: “In the moment, when you are presented with an opportunity, you’ve got to use it, and if you don’t, these are the kinds of conversations that you’re going to have. But in the end, if you are a footballer, if you are a sports person, we all know that these things happen. Football is heartbreaking! And this is the moment when my heart is broken. That’s all I can say.”
These things happened just twice, as it goes.
In the ninth minute, Sherida Spitse’s corner kick for the Dutch went into the box to find a deft, low header from Lieke Martens, who lowered her cranium with enough cleverness to send the ball toward the near (right) post, where the South African defense had gotten messy. The ball caromed over to the left to the doorstep of the goal and to Jill Roord, who barely had to graze it with her head to score.
That held through the first half, even as Banyana Banyana caused ruckus and Kgatlana showed quality. It held through a narrow offside call on the Netherlands that took a goal off the board in the 54th minute. And it held all the way to the 68th, when Martens sent a pretty through ball up the left where Lineth Beerensteyn could get to it, one-time it left-footed and ship it toward goalkeeper Kaylin Swart, who had it go through her hands and into the goal in the kind of error one would wish on no one, evident as Swart slammed her hands against the grass.
That pretty much ensured a flight home, yet a flight rich with audacious thoughts for a country still without a professional league.
“We came to fight,” 37-year-old defender Noko Matlou said. “We came to play our football, and we came to show our culture, how we play, and I think we did that.”
“I think what’s different [from 2019],” 25-year-old midfielder Linda Motlhalo said, “I would say, our mentality.”
“We showed character,” Kgoale said.
“There are beautiful moments, things we’ll never forget,” 28-year-old midfielder Kholosa Biyana said. “I’m sure the whole country’s proud.”
“In this World Cup, there is no small team,” Matlou said, looking also toward fellow strivers Jamaica and Morocco. “. . . There is no small team anymore.”
“I can’t say anything is negative,” Kgatlana said. “Everything is positive. We are building. We have been building.” The impact “is going to be great now,” she said, pointing to South Africa’s bid to host the 2027 World Cup. “We have made the strides.”
“We made history — men or women,” Kgoale said. “Nothing like this has ever happened. So we’ve got something to be really proud of. At the same time, we’ve got higher standards. We expected better, and we wanted more.”
And then about that unborn pro league . . .
“I want to send a strong message,” Kgatlana said, “because it’s been many years now that we’ve been saying: ‘We need a professional league. We need to professionalize. We need this. We need that.’ I think it’s about time where broadcasters, federation, everyone involved put their money where their mouth is, because after coming to play two World Cups [and making one round of 16 already], surely someone has to be bothered and someone cannot sleep as though it’s okay.”
After all, they had just gotten going, really, and they can’t wait to see where they go. They spoke from the sprouting of who knows what.
“Maybe some of the players can receive offers from these big teams because we really have got brilliant players,” Kgoale said. “So the journey’s interesting. I’m really, really looking forward to what’s going to happen beyond this tournament.”
