Portugal made a fantastic comeback; however, Danielle Van de Donk’s powerful strike sealed the 3 points for the Dutch.
13 July 2022, Leigh Sports Village, Wigan and Leigh, Matchday 2 in Group C saw the Netherlands and Portugal face each other. Matchday 1 had ended with all teams in Group C obtaining 1 point each. A must-win game for both teams to keep up the progress for fighting for a spot in the quarter-finals. The Dutch faced several disappointing announcements before the game as the goalkeeper and captain Sari van Veenendaal was ruled out of the Euros due to her shoulder injury. Striker Vivianne Miedema was out of the game as she tested positive for Covid-19.
Brilliant Comeback but Not Enough In The End
Portugal faced disappointment early in the game as Jessica Silva’s beautiful effort was ruled offside. The Portuguese attack threatened the Dutch defense but was also poor at defending set pieces against them. Damaris Egurrola headed the Netherlands after a corner from Sherida Spitse as Portugal failed to defend the corner. Egurrola was met with little resistance, and the defending Champions were leading. The game’s second goal came after Portugal failed to clear a corner, and Stefanie van der Gragt was there to take advantage and headed the goal home. Van der Gragt was booted in the face while trying to shoot the header. However, she quickly recovered and got back on the pitch.
Dominique Janssen’s foul on Diana Silva earned Portugal a penalty. Carole Costa smoothly clipped the ball past Daphne van Domselaar. A rather changing point for Portugal as Van Domselaar made an excellent stop to tip a Tatiana Pinto header over the crossbar, but Portugal equalised seconds later. Diana Silva meeting Carole Costa’s cross from the right with a superb header.
In reply to the goals scored by Portugal, Jill Roord found the back of the net with a powerful strike; however, it was ruled offside. Portugal was well on their way to picking up another point as they did against Switzerland, but the last-minute beauty scored by Danielle van de Donk sealed the game for the Dutch. Overall a reasonably tough night for Mark Parsons’ side.
Post Match Reaction
Damaris Egurrola won the Visa Player Of The Match for her impressive performance in the air and for breaking up Portugal’s play.
Overall the three points were hard-earned by the Netherlands as Portugal played some very impressive football. They only lacked in defending the set pieces, which was a strong point for the Dutch. The team should be proud of themselves for the short time they had for preparation; they have certainly impressed everyone in this tournament.
“We competed, and that was our goal for this game, with courage, ambition, knowing who we were up against. There were times when we weren’t as organised as we should have been, and again some small details made the difference. But my team showed an attitude, a determination that leaves me feeling so proud of what they did.” – Francisco Neto, Portugal coach.
“We can’t cave in just because we concede two early goals. We always know how to respond, and that’s what we did. We believed until the end that we could change the result. Can we beat Sweden and qualify? Playing like this, we can beat them, and that’s something we’ll fight to do.” – Jessica Silva.
“It’s been a big couple of days. We lost four players before this game. We keep getting punched in the face, and we keep coming back stronger. We showed great character to come back. We scored an important goal, and the defence was very solid.” – Mark Parsons, Netherlands coach.
Full Time at Leigh Sports Village
Netherlands 3-2 Portugal
7′ Damaris Egurrola
16′ Stefanie van der Gragt
38′ Carole Costa (P)
47′ Diana Silva
62′ Danielle van de Donk
Photos from the fixture by James Whitehead
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Written by Unnati Naidu.
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