Banyana Banyana of South Africa defeated Italy in a dramatic 3-2 victory to earn their first-ever victory in the FIFA Women's World Cup.
South Africa tied 2-2 with Argentina to earn their first-ever point in tournament history after losing their first game, 2-1, against Sweden to make it four consecutive defeats at the Mundial.
However, they ought to have won that game after leading the South Americans 2-0 going into the final frame.
The African champions still needed to defeat Italy in their last group encounter to get to the knockout round.
They did indeed succeed in winning, as Wellington's Wellington Regional Stadium saw when star striker Chrestinah Thembi Kgatlana stunned the Italians with a goal in the 92nd minute.
Italy took the lead in the 11th minute on a penalty kick by Arianna Caruso. However, just over the halfway point, Benedetta Orsi scored an own goal to provide South Africa a much-needed equalizer.
For the former, Hildah Magaia and Kgatlana worked together to give Banyana Banyana the advantage. Nevertheless, Caruso scored once more to tie the score halfway through the second half.
Then, Magaia switched to becoming Kgatlana's supplier, resulting in the historic late victory for the females from Mandela-land.
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