Category: Netherlands

Morgan: USWNT not happy with Netherlands draw

The fate of Group E is in the balance after the 1-1 result

Alex Morgan has admitted that the U.S. women’s national team is “not happy” after only managing to draw the Netherlands 1-1 in their second game of the World Cup.

The U.S. fell behind midway through a subpar first half after Jill Roord found the net with a low drive from the top of the box.

Fueled by Lindsey Horan, the USWNT stormed back in the second half but still only managed to draw in a result that leaves Group E hanging in the balance.

The USWNT is level on points with Netherlands atop the group, sitting in first place due to a two-goal advantage in goal differential. But with the Netherlands facing Vietnam in their final group match, a heavy win would put the pressure on the U.S. to follow suit against Portugal.

Morgan was well aware of the repercussions of the USWNT’s failure to win against the Dutch, and could not hide her frustration with the result.

“We knew [the equalizer] was coming. We knew it was inevitable and not to get the second one, I think it’s a bit unlucky,” Morgan told ESPN.

“We played in their half almost the entire second half. I don’t even think they had really dangerous opportunities in the second half. So just to see us come into the locker room, regroup and come out in the second half and put on that display, I’m really proud of the group.

“But yeah, we’re not happy if we’re not getting the win. Obviously, it puts first place of the group up for grabs now. So we have to close the job when we play Portugal in a few days.”

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Horan: ‘I got a little pissed’ before scoring Netherlands equalizer

Don’t make Lindsey Horan mad. You won’t like her when she’s mad

The Netherlands chose the wrong person to get angry.

With her team up 1-0 midway through the second half, Daniëlle van de Donk took Horan out with a nasty looking challenge near the sideline.

Horan was clearly displeased with the tackle from her club teammate at Lyon and two minutes later, she found the perfect response.

The USWNT captain got on the end of Rose Lavelle’s corner to nod home an equalizer her team desperately needed. After the game, she admitted that the challenge from Van de Donk had set her off.

“Me and Dan always go up against each other and it’s a physical battle,” Horan told Fox Sports after the game. “I respect her so much because that’s how it should be — it should be competitive at all times.

“So I think once we got to that tackle, all I wanted to do was score. In the heat of the moment I got a little pissed at her. But Rose put in an absolute dime and I got on the end of it. So I’m happy for the goal.”

The game ended 1-1, after which Horan and van de Donk hugged it out. There were naturally plenty of reactions one of the more memorable moments of the tournament thus far.

USWNT left with plenty of questions after frustrating Netherlands draw

The U.S. has plenty to improve if they are to ultimately win a third straight World Cup

The U.S. women’s national team is officially off to a slow start at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

After an opening win against Vietnam that was far from dazzling, the USWNT sputtered to a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in a much-anticipated rematch of the 2019 final.

A series of mistakes led to a 17th-minute opener from Jill Roord, giving the Dutch a deserved lead in a first half they mostly controlled.

The USWNT fought back in the second half, which was personified by Lindsey Horan heading home a 62nd-minute equalizer minutes after taking a heavy challenge that clearly riled her up.

Though the second half was improved, this was far from a vintage performance and will leave head coach Vlatko Andonovski with plenty to ponder — and plenty of questions to answer himself about his lineup choices and decision to only use one of his five subs.

After a spirited opening, the USWNT was punched in the mouth with a Netherlands opener that started when Andi Sullivan was bypassed far too easily in the midfield. That was compounded by a slip from Crystal Dunn, with Roord eventually scoring with the first shot on target against the USWNT at the World Cup.

It was the first time the USWNT had trailed at a World Cup since the 2011 quarterfinal against Brazil — a game they ultimately won.

At halftime Andonovski made the change many thought he’d make before the game, putting Rose Lavelle in for Savannah DeMelo. The change seemed to spark the U.S. into life, but the moment Andonovski’s team really needed came from a foul on Horan from her teammate at Lyon, Daniëlle van de Donk.

Clearly fuming at the challenge, Horan answered in the best way possible.

As the game entered its final stages the USWNT piled on the pressure in a way that it hadn’t for most of the game.

With his attackers starting to click, Andonovski decided to keep his subs in his pocket, with the likes of Lynn Williams, Alyssa Thompson, Megan Rapinoe and Ashley Sanchez not seeing the field.

Asked by Fox Sports after the game why he opted against using second-half subs, Andonovski responded: “We were in a good rhythm, we were dominating the game, we controlled the game.”

But the USWNT ultimately fell short of the win it needed to take control of Group E, which could now very well come down to goal difference. The USWNT has a two-goal advantage on the Netherlands, who can potentially surpass the U.S. if they run up the score against Vietnam in their final game.

A place in the knockout round is nearly secured, but the U.S. has plenty to improve if they are to ultimately win a third straight World Cup.

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USMNT vs Netherlands: How to watch World Cup final rematch

The Dutch will be looking for revenge after being knocked out of the last two major tournaments by the USWNT

The U.S. women’s national team and the Netherlands will face off in Wellington in one of the 2023 World Cup’s most anticipated group stage matches.

For the first time in women’s World Cup history, the two finalists from the previous tournament will meet in the group stage.

The Group E encounter is a chance for revenge for the Dutch, who lost to the USWNT in the 2019 final and were also eliminated by the U.S. at the most recent Olympics in the quarterfinal round.

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Overall, the USWNT has a record of 8W-1D-1L against the Netherlands all time.

The two teams started out their respective World Cup campaigns with wins, as the USWNT got past Vietnam 3-0 and the Netherlands defeated Portugal 1-0. If there is a winner in this match, that team will have full control of Group E, with only a draw required in their finale to lock up first place.

Finishing first in Group E will be crucial, as the runner-up will be looking at a potential last-16 matchup against Sweden — which finished third at the 2019 World Cup and second at the Olympics two years ago.

Here is everything you need to know for the match that kicks off on Wednesday night U.S. time, which is Thursday afternoon in New Zealand.

USA vs. Netherlands

  • When: Wednesday, July 26
  • Where: Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington, NZ
  • Time: 9 p.m. ET
  • Channel/streaming: Fox, Telemundo, Universo, Peacock

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[afflinkbutton text=”Watch the USWNT on Peacock” link=”https://imp.i305175.net/XYN3Qo”]

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Netherlands coach slams ‘amateur’ training setup at World Cup

“This fits with amateurism of the highest order,” Andries Jonker charged

Netherlands head coach Andries Jonker has charged that his team’s training setup at the Women’s World Cup is “amateurism of the highest order.”

Jonker’s side is training at the Bay Oval in Tauranga, New Zealand — a converted cricket ground that required up to 500 hours of work to be ready for the Netherlands to use as a base camp.

The Netherlands had previously voiced concerns over the pitch and although plenty of work has been done to ensure it is up to standard, Jonker was not impressed with the result.

“When we arrived here on Wednesday, I thought: ‘What is this now? I will not train on this,'” Jonker said at a press conference. “We have raised concerns about the cricket pitch previously, we were promised things and now we are very disappointed and angry. We are not satisfied.

“We want to play a good first match against Portugal here, we want to have a top preparation, a top tournament and we also consider ourselves a top team. This does not fit. This fits with amateurism of the highest order.”

Jonker, whose side has been drawn into Group E alongside the United States, Portugal and Vietnam, said he is concerned about the potential for injuries on the makeshift pitch.

He added: “If you fall on it with your knee or your shoulder, you could have a problem. If you sprint from the grass to that pitch, that is also not good for muscles and tendons that are already under tension. With other exercises we can train around that pitch, but 11 against 11 doesn’t work.”

Though Jonker was far from impressed with the state of the Bay Oval pitch, at least one of his team’s biggest stars seems to have a differing opinion.

Lieke Martens said the pitch looked “amazing,” according to the New Zealand Herald.

“It is a really good pitch. It is a really good area to prepare us for the first game,” Martens added.

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Dutch federation to abandon matches over fan trouble after Klaassen struck by lighter

It’s been an ugly year in the stands for Dutch soccer

The KNVB has had it with unruly supporters.

The Dutch soccer federation had to face down yet another example of terrible fan behavior after Davy Klaassen was left bleeding after being hit by a lighter thrown by a Feyenoord supporter in Ajax’s 2-1 KNVB Cup semifinal win on Wednesday. Klaassen initially tried to play on after the incident, but eventually asked for a substitution.

The BBC reported that Dutch police had arrested a man in connection to the incident, along with 21 other fans who attended a match that had already been marred by anti-Semitic chants and smoke bombs that delayed kickoff at De Kuip.

For the federation, this latest incident was apparently a red line. The KNVB issued a statement on Thursday announcing new guidelines for referees to deal with crowd trouble at Dutch matches. In essence, the guidelines will make it much more likely that referees abandon matches should conditions become unsafe.

“With these steps, potential perpetrators will hopefully no longer dream of attacking the main players on the field,” read the KNVB statement. “We’re done with that.”

The new regulations specifically address objects being thrown on the field, and supporters entering the field. For objects, whether they’re as dangerous as the lighter that hit Klaassen or not, the KNVB says referees must stop play and direct the teams off the pitch for a spell.

If play resumes and more objects are thrown onto the field, referees are to abandon the game immediately. That’s also what they’re to do if an object strikes a player, even if it’s the first object thrown from the stands.

With supporters entering the field, the rules are the same. One fan coming onto the pitch means stopping the game temporarily, while a second means abandoning the match. If, as happened when a PSV fan tried to punch Sevilla’s Marko Dmitrović in the Europa League, a supporter attempts to attack a player, the match will be abandoned on the spot.

KNVB not alone in taking action

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte decried the Klaassen incident as “intolerable,” with a government investigation apparently being considered. For their part, Feyenoord said they will close the section of De Kuip that the lighter was thrown from for their Europa League quarterfinal against Roma on April 13.

The situation over that match was already tense. Per Reuters, Italian authorities had banned Dutch fans from attending the second leg at the Stadio Olimpico over damage done to the historic Fontana della Barcaccia when Feyenoord last faced Roma back in 2015. UEFA issued a corresponding edict to ban Italian fans from attending the first leg at De Kuip.

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