By Aston Villa FC

Daphne van Domselaar and the Netherlands were knocked out of the FIFA Women's World Cup on Friday morning, losing 2-1 to Spain.

In an intriguing affair, the Spaniards overcame the Dutch after extra time to book their place in the semi-finals.

Mariona Caldentey opened the scoring from the penalty spot during the closing stages of normal time, before Stefanie van der Gragt thundered home an equaliser in stoppage time.

Salma Paralluelo had the last laugh when she powered a shot past van Domselaar in the 111th minute.

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Spain undoubtedly had the better of the opening 45 minutes and did everything but score in an action-packed first half.

Esther González dinked a close range effort wide of van Domselaar’s post inside the opening five minutes, before our number one produced a superb save to push Alba Redondo’s header onto the post.

Daphne then denied González from distance as Spain went through the gears.

Their persistence looked to have paid off as half-time approached, but Redondo’s tap-in from a few yards out was ruled out for offside.

Netherlands managed to get to the break with the score still level, and they even thought their resilience was set to be rewarded when the referee pointed to the penalty spot in their favour.

Lineth Beerensteyn looked like she was brought down clumsily having been sent through on goal, but the referee overturned her initial decision of a spot-kick after a lengthy review at the video monitor.

It wouldn’t be long before another VAR review, though.

The referee was once again asked to go to the monitor, just 10 minutes from time, after Stefanie van der Gragt looked to have handled the ball inside the Dutch penalty area.

This time, there was no doubt as to what the final decision would be.

And despite Daphne’s best efforts, Mariona Caldentey dispatched the ensuing kick to give Spain a late lead.

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The drama was far from over, however.

van der Gragt's earlier error was atoned in stoppage time as she found herself through on goal and made no mistake in slamming the ball into the back of the net.

With 92 minutes on the clock, the Dutch were level.

Extra time was on the cards and was indeed a reality after an enthralling end to regulation.

There weren't many clearcut opportunities for either side in the additional 30 minutes, but Beerensteyn did squander two golden chances late on that surely would've won the tie.

And in the cruellest of circumstances, Spain scored the decisive goal seconds after Beerensteyn's miss.

Paralluelo drove at the Dutch defence before rattling an effort in off the post to send Spain into delirium and the Netherlands home.

Commiserations, Daphne. You've done your country proud.