The Spanish team qualified for the first time in its history for the World Cup semifinals after beating the Netherlands by 2 goals to 1, with goals from an excellent Mariona Caldentey and Salma Paralluelo, the heroine of the afternoon.
A single novelty in Vilda's eleven compared to the round of 16 match: the entry of Mariona Caldentey from the left. With this decision, the intention of the coach was to give continuity to the proper functioning while adding a piece to destabilize the defense of five from the Netherlands. The Catalan, who started from outside to join the inside game, was the footballer who generated superiority to progress and dominate the game. And the bet served to subdue the Dutch for a large part of the game. The first part ended with some very eloquent data in favor of Spain: 62% possession, twelve shots (3 of them on goal), one goal disallowed by just one shot safely received by the Dutch.
Football and tactically the best player of the match. She played again on the left with a changed leg, but neither that nor having a pure lane just in front of them meant any inconvenience for the Barça side. Rather the complete opposite. She had the legs to respond to the physical duel every time the Netherlands tried to deploy on her right side and she went wonderfully deep on the wing with the ball, taking advantage of the gap left by Mariona. Most of the dangerous actions were generated from her interventions. Like, for example, the disallowed goal for Esther, where the winger has fantastic control, decisive driving and a quality center.
In the second part, Spain found the prize in a clear penalty after a good raid on the right. From there, the Netherlands stretched. He even went to 4-3-3 to end up equalizing the electronic in a brand mismatch. But the entry of Salma Paralluelo, who entered before the regulation ninety for Alba Redondo, turned out to be a decisive weapon with the broken game. And a magnificent pass from the always creative Jenni Hermoso, allowed Salma to have time and space to exploit what she knows how to do best. Race, one against one and great definition to put the team in the semifinals.
