This is probably not the scenario that the France team dreamed of. Without Marie-Antoinette Katoto, who had to forfeit after a knee injury, Les Bleues will have to cross swords with the Netherlands, holders of the trophy, from the quarter-finals of Euro 2022. The Dutch have long been hooked by Switzerland, Sunday July 17, before winning thanks to three goals in the last minutes (4-1). This success secures them second place in Group C behind Sweden, who for their part outclassed Portugal (5-0) to take first place thanks to a better goal difference.
Sweden = through to the quarter-finals as group winners! #WEURO2022 | #SWE pic.twitter.com/cWTFRwb5bF
— UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 (@WEURO2022) July 17, 2022
The logic was finally respected. The Netherlands and Sweden were expected as the two favorites of this group and held their rank. The Swedes did not go into detail against the surprising Portuguese. The teammates of Filippa Angeldahl, author of a double, already led 3-0 at rest and left no chance to their opponents, who had managed to come back two goals behind during the first two days.
The Netherlands, they had much more difficulty to take the measure of the event. Timorous in the first period, and even frankly dominated in envy, the defending champions even finished with a very flattering score. Clinging to the break (0-0), they only found the fault with a twist of fate, an own goal from Ana Maria Crnogorcevic (1-0, 48th), the most capped player and top scorer of the history of the Swiss selection. This advantage was short-lived, since the Swiss managed to equalize in stride, logically, thanks to a nice collective movement concluded by Géraldine Reuteler.
As in 2017 against France, the Nati thought it could create surprise and overthrow the established order. She even had the opportunity to take the lead on a double chance from midfielder Coumba Sow. But lacking opportunism, she was punished by the Dutch substitutes, Romee Leuchter in the lead. The young striker from Ajax Amsterdam forced the decision (2-1, 83rd) on a bad exit from goalkeeper Gaëlle Thalmann, imperial until then. Leuchter did it again at the start of added time for the 4-1 goal, while Victoria Pelova had already added to the score with a big boost from VAR, which intervened for seven long minutes.
#SU / #NED : a completely unbridled end to the match which allows the defending champions to face our Blue in the quarter-finals! #WEURO2022 ▶️: https://t.co/l2abFeAFVv pic.twitter.com/d8tLKiqrPc
– Canal Football Club (@CanalFootClub) July 17, 2022
This end-of-match furia for a time allowed us to imagine the stunning scenario of Dutch women able to regain the lead of the group. But these last ten unbridled minutes do not completely remove the impression that this team is not up to the level which allowed them to rise to the roof of the continent in 2017, or in the final of the World Cup 2019 .
The Netherlands could, however, be able to count on the return of star Vivianne Miedema, absent due to Covid-19, on Sunday. The Arsenal centre-forward would be the main danger for the French team in the quarter-finals. In their misfortune of the draw, the Blues can console themselves by saying that there was probably worse timing to face one of the scarecrows of the competition, far from running at full speed.