Victory came at a cost for the Netherlands in the first round of the knockout stages of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.
The Dutch defeated South Africa 2-0 on Sunday at Sydney's Allianz Stadium, setting up a showdown with Spain in the quarterfinals. They will have to play that game without star midfielder Daniëlle van de Donk, who picked up her second yellow card of the tournament and will receive an automatic one-game suspension.
Not much went wrong for the Netherlands beyond that yellow card. It struck early with a header from Jill Roord off a corner in the ninth minute.