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The women’s national soccer team lost 3-2 to South Africa in the last match of the group stage of the current World Cup between Australia and New Zealand. With this result they were overtaken to second place in group G by South Africa and therefore eliminated from the tournament.
For Italy it is a disappointing result, but the difficulties shown during the tournament were evident. After the heavy 5-0 defeat against Sweden last Saturday, in the decisive match against South Africa they made their comeback and overcome after taking the lead in the first half with a penalty from Arianna Caruso. One of the first two goals of South Africa’s comeback came with an awkward own goal from the defense following a missed back pass to the goalkeeper.
Fifteen minutes from the end, Italy had managed to equalize, again through Caruso, despite continuing to have difficulty managing possession and defending in a rather confusing way. In added time (11 in total) he finally conceded the third goal, the decisive one. South Africa have never won a match at the World Cup so far, despite being the reigning African champions, and will now be in the round of 16 for the first time in their history.
Technical commissioner Milena Bertolini and 16-year-old Giulia Dragoni after their elimination (Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Qualifying for the round of 16 was the minimum objective for Italy at this World Cup, given that Argentina and South Africa (the other two opponents in the group after Sweden, of a much higher level) were considered within its reach. The national team also came from the disappointing European Championships last year, finished in the groups and without victories, after which a difficult generational change had begun. At these World Cups in Oceania it had presented itself with a starting line-up with an average age of just over 25, the youngest in its recent history.
Given the latest results, for technical commissioner Milena Bertolini, in office since 2017, it could have been the last tournament with the national team, also considering that her contract expires within the year.