Sep 25, 2023 at 6:55 PM Update: an hour ago
The Orange Women know the importance of the special home match against Sarina Wiegman’s England on Tuesday in the Nations League. The team of national coach Andries Jonker could use a win to stay in the race for an Olympic ticket.
“She means a lot to us. We have had her as a coach for a long time and she has done a lot for us. It will be nice to see each other. We will make some jokes back and forth,” said Sherida Spitse a day before the game with England in the Nations League about Wiegman, who coached the Dutch national team between 2017 and 2021.
It was a successful period in which she won the European Championship with the Dutch team in 2017 and reached the World Cup final in 2019. Jonker has known Wiegman for some time and also thinks Tuesday’s match was special. “We have known each other since the mid-nineties and have always kept in touch. I don’t think we can surprise each other during the match,” laughed Jonker.
Spitse expects a warm welcome for Wiegman in the sold-out Galgenwaard in Utrecht. “Sarina is a big name in the Netherlands. She has done a lot for the Dutch team and women’s football. I think everyone will be positive. Nobody is going to throw things. Everyone loves her.”
In addition to the sentimental side due to the connection with Wiegman, the match with England also has a sporting side for the Dutch team. Jonker’s team must recover from Friday’s painful defeat against Belgium (2-1), with which they started poorly in the Nations League.
Jonker is waiting for doctor’s advice about Van Domselaar
National coach Andries Jonker could not yet say whether goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar can play against England. She was missing (just like second keeper Lize Kop) against Belgium, so third keeper Jacintha Weimar started.
“This morning Daphne trained with the group. I am still waiting for the doctor’s opinion as to whether she can keep goal or not.”
The availability of attacker Katja Snoeijs is questionable due to a hand injury.
‘We weren’t that bad’
After the match against Belgium, there was criticism of the Dutch team’s play. Spitse made it clear at the press conference that she did not fully agree with this. “We were not as bad as you (the press, ed.) thought we were. If we had just made three of all the chances we had, it would have been a completely different match. We will be going full speed again against England. for the win.”
Against Wiegman’s team, which lost the World Cup final to Spain (1-0) last month, Jonker’s team seems to need a victory to maintain a chance of qualifying for the Olympic Games in Paris next year. The Netherlands must come first in the Nations League group and therefore stay above England, which started on Friday with a victory over Scotland (2-1).
“We did not make it easy for ourselves with that defeat against Belgium. Things have been difficult for England since just before the World Cup, but they are winning. So we have to hunt for victory. My players want to go to the Games. I have to they calm down a bit in terms of motivation,” said Jonker.
The Dutch would ideally have hunted for a win for the first time in De Kuip or the Johan Cruiff ArenA, but the match will be played in the smaller Galgenwaard. Jonker: “With this bill on the program, there could not have been a better time to play in one of those two stadiums for the first time. I also put that down after the draw. But unfortunately it was not possible.”
The match between the Dutch team and England starts on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
2023-09-25 16:55:30
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