The Dutch hockey players closed the Pro League on Wednesday with a resounding victory. The China of former Orange national coach Alyson Annan was defeated 6-0 in Rotterdam.
For the Netherlands, the duel was mainly dominated by the return of Eva de Goede. The three-time Olympic champion tore her cruciate ligament in November last year. At the time, the question was whether she would ever be able to return to the highest level.
The 33-year-old De Goede eventually participated for more than half an hour. After that, the 251-time international went to the dressing room, according to agreement.
With 38 points from sixteen games, the Netherlands closes the Pro League season in second place. Argentina (42 points) had been certain of the overall victory for a while.
Orange shows that it is ready for the World Cup
The Netherlands and China also faced each other on Tuesday, also in Rotterdam. Then the team of national coach Jamilon Mülders needed a late goal from Maria Verschoor to win the match.
The second meeting between the 2008 Olympic finalists was a lot more one-sided. This time, Verschoor opened the scoring after twelve minutes, thanks to preparatory work by Felice Albers. A short time later, Albers made it 2-0, again after interrupting an opponent’s attack.
With a penalty corner and two penalty shots, Frédérique Matla ensured that the game was finally decided. With the 6-0, Lidewij Welten underlined that the Netherlands is ready for the World Cup that starts on July 1.