The Netherlands has progressed to the World Cup quarterfinal for the first time after beating Japan on Tuesday in Rennes courtesy of Lieke Martens' late penalty.
Martens scored arguably the goal of the tournament with her cheeky backheel nutmeg inside of 20 minutes. Then she calmly slotted home a 90th-minute penalty after Japan captain Saki Kumagai was harshly adjudged to have handled the ball in the area.
Yui Hasegawa matched Martens' first-half goal by capping off a silky team effort, a slick climax to a flowing goal that was the perfect countermeasure to the leisurely Dutch defending.
An enthralling and captivating first half gave way to a turgid and slow-paced affair after the break, with the two sides placing more value on preventing errors than creating veritable chances. Japan found another gear in the final 15 minutes, repeatedly peppering Sari Van Veenendaal's goal through intricate passing plays and patient attacks. The 2011 winning team looked more likely to score than the Dutch.
Then another late refereeing decision in a tournament pockmarked by VAR controversy handed Martens a spot-kick, which the 2017 Player of the Year easily converted.
Sarina Wiegman's Oranje will now be the consensus favorites against surprise side Italy when the two sides clash in Valenciennes on June 29 with a spot in the last four on the line.
