That record doesnt really count because Dutch women's soccer didnt really take off until about 5 to 10 years ago. Having said that the US still remain strong favourites
Concur on both points. But Holland is a good team and taking it lightly would be a calamitous mistake.
The Dutch coach, Sara Wiegman, was the first Dutch women's player to reach 100 caps. Today I saw a clip of her being honored for the achievement before a Dutch NT game--I'm not sure what year--by Coach Louis van Gaal, who of course went on to become one of the most decorated managers in (men's) football, coaching Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester United (most recently) and he was twice the coach of The Netherlands National team. Wiegman was, I think, a smallish midfielder back when the women were all forced to wear men's jerseys that were of course much too big for them. As for this match, I think to compete the Dutch will need to defend early and well and not give up an early goal. Scoring early has been the U.S. trademark in the tourney. An underdog has to get a foothold in the game, try to build a little confidence, and then go from there. More particularly, the Dutch will need to deal with the U.S. high press, which is very effective because the outside backs, especially, O'Hara, play such an aggressive high line. England, trailing by one goal in the second half, struggled for a long and important stretch to get the ball out of its defensive half, and forward Rachel Daly, who can be quite effective in attack, had to spend a lot of time help to get the ball out of the back or to defend after giveaways. That's not the way to win a soccer match. So we'll see if the Dutch can cope. The other big thing will be whether the Dutch have the legs to compete. I've said it before and I'll say it again: It's outrageous that after both teams have played six games in four or five weeks, that one finalist gets one more day of rest than the other. That is a big deal at the end of a long, hard tournament and should not happen. It's BS.
Fully agree, and a win 3 years ago in a friendly has little to do with what will happen on Sunday. I was just answering a question asked.
It could be because the Olympique Lyonnaise field is where a good number of the French players play their club home games.
No need to "apologize". I've got the feeling we're going to have a respectfull posting habit about this match
Absolutely! Remember the 1969 Super Bowl: Baltimore Colts vs NY Jets. I won $200 an immense sum at the time by getting absurd point spread correct.
I actually think the Dutch should come out attacking right away; only for the first 15 minutes or so in a similar high press to what they did against Japan in the first half. The Americans have been trying to put pressure early on every team they've played, sitting back and defending plays right into their approach up to this point. If you let them get an early goal they sit back, play defensively and look to hit on the counter almost all game (and they are very dangerous at this). The best course of action for the Leeuwinnen to get something from this game, IMO, is to take the game to the US. They have the players and midfield to do this and control the game from the onset, especially if Beerensteyn and van de Sanden are the wingers from the onset with Martens injured. It will be key, of course, for the Dutch not to use all of their energy in the first half (like they did against Japan, which they've learned from and adapted so far). They've been very good at getting second half goals and creating danger from set pieces though so...we'll see.
Can you find a single international competition men or women that this is not the case? I've been watching a little it of the Copa America and they have the same split day semifinals. They are allowed a fourth substitute if the game goes into extra time and Sweden did use theirs.
Well, this to me means that other tournaments are making the same mistake. I get that there would be some serious logistical hurdles if you tried to play both semis on the same day, in the same stadium. For one thing, you'd have to clear the stadium of fans after the first match to get ready for the second, but it's doable. Otherwise, at least give the team playing the later semifinal four days rest. The Netherlands will have three days rest after a grueling semi and six games in four/five weeks. Not enough. Of course TV plays a huge role in scheduling, as we know. The final will always be played on a Sunday.
I read today that The Netherlands is seriously interested in hosting the 2027 WWC. It's early days but apparently the KNVB has already had preliminary discussions with FIFA.
I was afraid I wan't going to have another WWC in Europe within a decent amount of time: I would appreciate very much a Netherlands 2027 WWC!
Could be but I thought it was more generally because Lyon is so dominant in French Women's football. Best club team in Europe.
They should postpone till 8pm, thats when the rain is scheduled to stop: https://www.accuweather.com/en/fr/lyon/171210/hourly-weather-forecast/171210?hour=57
I may well be crazy but the more I think of this game the more I think Van de Sanden could be key if she is up to it. The US do leave space if you can beat their high press. They push their full backs real high on occasions and their CB’s aren’t very quick. The Dutch have some tricky technical CM’s that can get the ball through the press. Get Van De Sanden running between the full back and centre back gap..... The main problem I have with the Dutch attack is Miedema is the most talented forward in the tournament but she doesn’t work enough off the ball. She should try and pull defenders out of position more or make runs to create space for others. I never thought I would say this at the start of the tournament but she needs to play more like Ellen White has played
Tell the worlds broadcasters that ... Yeah, NOT gonna happen. I’d look at the weather on game day.. rather than now.
a) I don't believe I have ever seen van de Sanden making a run into that gap. b) nearly every forward in the tournament needed to play more like Ellen White.
I’ve seen her do it but she does primarily run on the outside (which would suit Dunn). Maybe I shouldn’t have name dropped White. I was more talking about her playing style. Basically the other forwards the US have faced in the KO stages have done alot of the selfless work for the team. Miedema has to do that too. Run the CB’s into the ground.
Except this is not Miedema's style of play: she's the typical FW who seems to completely disappear for long stints of the game, to the point that you have to wonder if she's really "that good", until suddenly she has an half-chance and she bites like a cobra converting it. She almost did that in the Sweden game also, when she forced Lindhal to deflect on the crossbar.
Most of the time she disappears to the side line where she starts distributing the ball and indeed she than reappears when the defenders lost their attention for her.