SYDNEY — The World Cup gave a fond farewell to a compelling South Africa team on Sunday midday here and sawed off a chunk of its verve and wonder in the process. Banyana Banyana succumbed to the quality of the Netherlands as soccer intellectuals would have expected, but South Africa’s counterattacks made goalkeeper Daphne Van Domselaar lunge and dive just about every direction in which she can lunge and dive.
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The Netherlands’ 2-0 win, foreshadowed with an early goal and then solidified with a wince of an error later on, sent the Orange Lionesses into what looks like a hell of a quarterfinal against Spain, which on Saturday rebounded from its 4-0 loss to Japan in group play to put a 5-1 dent in Switzerland.