Another ‘crooked situation’ for the draw of the Orange Lionesses on the way to the Olympic Games: ‘I’m pulling France’ | Dutch football

Knowing that France, as host country, is automatically qualified for the Olympic women’s tournament and the French have secured themselves in the final round with world champion Spain, a victory in the consolation final of the Nations League could be sufficient for the Lionesses. The condition is that France reaches the final. If the French finish fourth, the Dutch team must reach the final. So one of the participants in the Final Four is missing out.

Germany also qualified for the Final Four on Tuesday evening – just like the Dutch team. The team of interim national coach Horst Hrubesch did not get further than a goalless draw against Wales in Swansea. That turned out to be enough for the group win, because Iceland won 1-0 against Denmark.

The final round of the Nations League will take place between February 21 and 28. Monday will be an exciting day for the Orange Lionesses, because a draw will determine which opponent they will be paired with in the semi-finals. A draw will also be made to determine which countries have the home advantage in the semi-finals and subsequently in a possible final or in the battle for third place.

The Olympic football tournament will largely be played outside Paris in the summer of next year. In addition to the Parc des Princes in the French capital, Nantes, Lyon, Saint-Etienne, Marseille, Nice and Bordeaux have been designated as host cities.

Dutch national coach Andries Jonker sees a new ‘crooked situation’ emerging before the draw for the Final Four. “I will make the draw and I will draw France,” Jonker joked late on Tuesday evening. “We have arranged everything well and drawing France seems to be the favorable option. This is not how it should go,” Jonker said about the draw next Monday, December 11.

The national coach was previously critical of the fact that the Dutch had to compete against England and Scotland in the group stage, while they would form a joint Olympic team at the Games and could therefore have coordinated their results. However, Jonker himself has no solution for either situation. “It would be good for the sport if this didn’t happen again.”