Miedema, the Dutch team's all-time leading scorer, snatched a deadlock breaker by pushing forward to nod Spitse's free kick home in the 70th minute.

The Oranjeleeuwinnen replicated their scoring way 10 minutes later. After another Spitse's free kick was sent in, Van Der Gragt rose highest to head it into the net.

The Dutch side held on to the advantage until the final whistle for their historic World Cup semifinal.

"I'm not really surprised with how far we've come, but I'm very proud of the team. We have very good players. Since the European Championships, we've gained a lot of confidence. We also needed to improve our game to perform on the level that we're at at this World Cup," the Netherlands' coach Sarina Wiegman told a news conference.

"We have had some moments where we were lucky but there's such a great team spirit and there's such a great belief that we can perform well. The word proud is more suitable than surprised," she added.

After the match, Italian players were quite emotional with tears in eyes for not refreshing their record at the World Cup.

"When you really commit a great deal to what you do than naturally you are emotional and upset. The girls are all in tears because they had this dream and the dream is over. But this is a starting point and we need to push on from this with a lot more confidence," Italy's coach Milena Bertolini pointed out.

The Netherlands will face either Germany or Sweden in Wednesday's semifinal in Lyon.

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