Sarina Wiegman continues to show her influence in a fine win against the Netherlands - but have Lionesses peaked too soon?It is almost five years since a bomb scare in the eastern Netherlands left England’s team bus completing seemingly endless circles of the dual carriageways surrounding Enschede.By the time the local police confirmed it was a hoax, Mark Sampson’s Lionesses were behind schedule for their Euro 2017 semi-final against Sarina Wiegman’s Netherlands and arrived at FC Twente’s stadium much later than intended. Continue reading...
With attacking prowess, midfield mettle and an outstanding goalkeeper the Netherlands are an ascendant force after reaching final in only their second World CupWhen Vera Pauw returned to the Netherlands after the 2009 Women’s European Championship, she entered her office at the Royal Dutch Football Association expecting plaudits. The pioneering coach, a key force behind the establishment of the women’s Eredivisie, had just guided the national side to the semi-finals of their first major international tournament.Instead, in a nation long agnostic to the female game, she was met with silence. “Nobody in the association ever congratulated me,” Pauw recalled on Friday. Within six months the manager who laid the foundations for women’s football in the Netherlands had resigned, just as...
Netherlands got their tactics right and Americans struggled to impose themselves, yet once star of tournament scored there was only going to be one winnerIt became clear after 13 minutes that this was going to be a different kind of game for the USA. The Netherlands, it turned out, were different from any team they had faced at this World Cup. But the US had something no other side in tournament had: Megan Rapinoe, the biggest star of the World Cup, and the confidence she embodies.After steamrolling their way through the rest of the tournament and scoring within 12 minutes in every game, the mighty Americans had to wait an agonizing 61 minutes to score against a team that very...