Thembi Kgatlana had time to pull off one more trick, to take one more shot, to send one more jolt of electricity through the crowd.
She had been running, by that stage, for roughly 100 minutes, mounting what appeared at times to be a fearsome, one-woman campaign to keep South Africa in the Women’s World Cup for as long as possible.
The Netherlands had a two-goal lead, and somewhere in the region of 30 seconds to survive.
First, she spun and writhed and twisted away from a defender, leaving her sprawled on the turf.
This time, it slithered just wide of Daphne van Domselaar’s goal.
Persons:
Thembi Kgatlana, Stefanie van der Gragt, Daphne van Domselaar’s
Locations:
South Africa, Netherlands