Salma Paralluelo, a teenager playing on the flank, reached off the court to score the game-winning plan for Spain in the 111th minute as Spain defeated the Netherlands to go to the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup for the first time.

Mariona Caldentey had seemed to give Spain the victory in regular time when she smashed home a penalty in the 80th minute after Stefanie van der Gragt had handled the ball in the area. However, the goal went in off the post.

Van der Gragt went from villain to hero by blasting home an equalizer in stoppage time, but Paralluelo found space in the area in extra time to push Spain’s women into their first major semifinal in 26 years. This will be Spain’s first appearance in a semifinal of a major competition.

The Netherlands, who finished in second place in 2019 after losing to the United States in the championship match, were outplayed for most of the match. However, they had an opportunity to grab the lead within seconds before the winner, but Lineth Beerensteyn missed his shot from yards out.

Salma Paralluelo was the one who authored this.

Although she wasn’t in the starting lineup for this match, Salma Paralluelo ended up scoring the game-winning goal.

The 19-year-old Paralluelo then collected the ball from Jenni Hermoso, maintained her composure in the penalty area, and hit the ball precisely off the left post to become Spain’s youngest scorer in a Women’s World Cup and their newest star player.

According to Parallels, “It means everything to me; it was a unique experience, incredible euphoria… I’m incredibly thrilled.”

According to Jorge Vilda, the squad’s head coach, “We went into extra time, but the players continued believing.” It was a game that had a lot of emotionally charged choices, and when Salma scored, it brought pure pleasure to everyone’s hearts. All of the players performed at an exceptional level.

On Tuesday, Spain will compete in the semifinals against either Japan or Sweden, depending on who wins the match that will take place in Auckland at 08:30 local time on Friday.

Relive the exciting triumph that Spain had in extra time against the Netherlands.

Bernstein is relieved that the “big mouth” Americans have been eliminated since Spain and the VAR continue to dominate.

Before Parallels made headlines, it seemed that this match might be one in which the video assistance referee (VAR) would play a defining role.

After 37 minutes of play, Spain seemed to have grabbed the lead when Esther Gonzalez hammered in a goal from close range after Alba Redondo miscued her shot into the path of the striker. However, the goal was later ruled out due to offside after being reviewed.

At that moment, it was reasonable to expect that the Spanish had disappeared from view. In a matter of seconds, Redondo managed to hit the post not once but twice. First, Daphne van Domselaar expertly deflected Redondo’s header onto the post, and then Redondo managed to deflect the rebound off of the same upright. Both of these chances came within a few seconds of each other.

In the second half, the Netherlands was left upset when the referee, Stephanie Frappart, originally issued a penalty for Irene Paredes barging Beerensteyn to the ground but then reversed her judgment. This caused the Netherlands to feel offended.

After then, VAR intervened to award Spain a penalty for handball by Van der Gragt.

According to the manager of the Dutch team, Andries Jonker, “VAR did not perform its task effectively,” although Spain did deserve to win.

It looked to be a reward for Spain’s domination; however, it happened via replacement Paralluelo, who is the latest young sensation to make a mark at this World Cup.

The tragic conclusion of Van der Gragt

The author is Stefanie van der Gragt.

In the dying seconds of regulation, Stefanie van der Gragt scored her second goal of the competition to force extra time.

Van der Gragt, who will call it quits after this tournament in his career as a professional football player, could not have hoped for a more spectacular ending to his career.

Van der Gragt said that things had become challenging. We had the opportunity to score in overtime, but we were unable to do so; meanwhile, they just needed one shot on goal to win. That right there is football.”

She earned her 106th cap in this match, but it appeared like her career was going to finish on a sour note when she strangely handled Paralluelo’s cross inside the penalty area, which opened the door for Caldentey to score.

But the 30-year-old woman was not going to let it be her defining moment on the football field for the rest of her career. After the second half had gone on for 12 minutes of stoppage time, the center-back found herself put through on goal for Spain.

Van der Gragt kept her composure and sent the ball with pinpoint accuracy over Cata Coll and into the goal.

A Dutch team that was dominating play for the bulk of this match got a little reprieve, thanks to this fortunate turn of events. They were without Danielle van de Donk since she was suspended for this match, and Damaris Egurrola, a former Spain international, was unable to provide the same level of combativeness in the middle of the field.

Before being taken off on the hour mark, Jill Roord, who already has the most goals ever scored by a Dutch woman in a World Cup with her four tallies, was scoreless in this match. Her team was once again dependent on goalie Van Domselaar, while Aston Villa seemed to have gotten a great deal with the freshly recruited goalkeeper they brought in.

Van Domselaar, though, was unable to stop the victory, which allowed Spain to advance to its first semifinal in a major competition since the 1997 European Championships – which took place six years before Paralluelo was born.

As a result, the Netherlands will finish in last place in their first major competition since Jonker took over as head coach after their elimination in the quarterfinals of Euro 2022.

Jonker expressed his profound dissatisfaction, stating that he was certain that his team would have advanced to the semifinals if they had won.

“I am really pleased with this squad because, in only one year, we have worked our way back up there [among the greatest teams in the world]. It may be bittersweet, but we are once again located on the map.