With ‘nine out of three’, the selection of Jamilon Mülders is group winner, which means a direct ticket to the knockout phase. Germany, which defeated the disappointing Ireland 3-0, ends the group as runner-up and still has to work in the ‘crossover’.
Orange does not have to take action again in the Wagener Stadium for six days. Then another confrontation with Chile may await. The number three of Pool A has to face the number two of Pool D in an intermediate round on Saturday. That could well be Belgium, which is led by the Dutch coach Raoul Ehren.
Grand ladies
The opening of the match was for the world champion and took place in unison between the two ‘grand ladies’ of Dutch hockey. Lidewij Welten cleverly released himself after one and a half minutes in the circle and launched Eva de Goede. He remained calm, pushed the ball past keeper Claudia Schuler, but saw Fernanda Villagran save on the line.
The Orange got two corners in the first quarter. The first was narrowly dragged over by Yibbi Jansen at comet speed, the second attempt was made by Frédérique Matla. The Den Bosch player brought Villagran into such trouble that the ball was free at the far post. Welten was there like the chickens to tap in. That she did this with the round side was lost on everyone and everything, including the Japanese arbitrator Jamada, who was standing a meter away.
Chilean disbelief
Xan de Waard had it on her hips a few times with her rushes and launched Matla with a nice cross ball. The goals machine from Huizen didn’t hesitate for a moment and shot the bottom of the bar with her backhand very hard. Bad luck for the Netherlands.
Yibbi Jansen of the Netherlands screams with joy when she has scored.
Rene Bouwman.
The 2-0 seemed to arrive at the third penalty corner, but instead it became 1-1. Matla’s bet was called off due to dangerous play, after which Chile countered at lightning speed, Sanne Koolen got the ball clumsily on her stick and Francisca Tala scored the goal of her life. The dozens of Chilean fans fell into each other’s arms in the full stands in disbelief.
Rescue Salvador
Matla could have let the Netherlands rest with a lead. But when she already had the stick in her neck after a nice dribble, Laurien Leurink interfered unnecessarily with the attack and Matla nicked the ball. So work on the shop for Orange in the second half.
Maria Verschoor almost gave the home team a great restart in the third quarter, but her attempt on goal just missed the strength to outsmart Natalia Salvador, a ‘fresh’ goalkeeper, on a pass from De Waard. Not much later, Salvador was attentive to a pass from Leurink on Matla, which the Orange should have done much more with. A shot from Matla from the turn exploded on Salvador’s body protector.
Masterful backhand
With three minutes to go in the third quarter, the Dutch national team took the lead again. It got two corners in a row, with Jansen scoring both times. The first went wide via a stick, the second went painfully slowly over the goal line via Salvador’s stick. The lead was well deserved, given the superiority of the ladies in orange and the one chance of the South Americans.
Just like against Germany, the Netherlands was able to step up a gear in the final phase and that resulted in the decision. Leurink cut across the ‘right’ back line, withdrew the ball that ended up at De Goede via a Chilean stick. She hit the ball with her backhand and looked at the top right corner: 3-1. What a world goal.