The European champions are finally launched. Hooked by Sweden when they entered the fray (1-1), the Netherlands worked to dominate Portugal (3-2), at Leigh Sports Village, Wednesday, July 13. Thanks to this first victory, the Dutch join the Swedes at the top of group C.
@DanielleDonk scores Netherlands’s third goal to restore their lead! ⚽#WEURO2022 | #NED | #POR https://t.co/h2WD2ZFcu6 pic.twitter.com/iKrulSjOoK
— UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 (@WEURO2022) July 13, 2022
Without four of its holders, affected by covid-19, the players of Mark Parsons scared themselves in the first minutes, when Borges came to push a cross from Jessica Silva into the back of the net. But the former Lyonnaise was reported in an offside position. Stung, the Dutch reacted immediately, and Damaris Egurrala opened the scoring with a header from a corner (7th). Successful in the aerial field, the Oranje doubled the bet on another header ten minutes later. We thought the reigning European champions launched towards the royal road, facing a Portuguese team without a solution (36% possession).
But Francisco Neto’s players managed to revive against the run of play, on a penalty converted by Carole Costa a few minutes from halftime, to return to the locker room with a single goal behind. They even thought they could repeat the blow of the first match against Switzerland, where they had risen to 2-2 after being down 2-0, when Diana Silva equalized at the very start of the second half.
The Dutch did not panic and let the storm pass. Then they made their technique speak to regain the advantage, thanks to a sublime curling shot from Danielle van de Donk (62nd). Before putting your foot back on the ball, control the end of the match, and clinch a decisive victory to get back to the top of the group.
In the other game of the group, earlier in the afternoon, Sweden won after a fierce fight against Switzerland (2-1). After a locked first period, the situation settled down in two minutes after returning from the locker room. Fridolina Rolfö opened the scoring for Sweden with a well-played counter-attack, but Parisian Ramona Bachmann equalized with a powerful strike. More solid, the Swedes ended up cracking their opponents thanks to Bennison, twelve minutes from time. Enough to sign their first victory in this Euro and get back into the race for the quarter-finals.