National coach Mark Parsons sympathizes with his players who were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the European Championship. “We were not good enough today, but we showed a lot of character. They fought very hard to stay in the game. I feel sorry for them,” said the coach at the NOS after the 1-0 defeat of Orange against France in Rotherham.
Parsons saw that his players were not good in the first half. “We weren’t ourselves in the first half. But the second half was a lot better and we also got the belief that we could score a goal. And reaching extra time also gave us new life.” In extra time, France made the 1-0 with a converted penalty from Ève Périsset.
The national coach had a difficult tournament in which he and the team had to deal with many setbacks. Keeper Sari van Veenendaal was injured in the first game against Sweden. Jackie Groenen and Vivianne Miedema temporarily fell away due to corona infections and Lieke Martens was injured.
“The group has done a great job,” Parsons said. “It is unbelievable how the players have dealt with all those changes. But we lost communication within the team in football due to all the problems and changes. Due to individual qualities and commitment, we managed to make it very exciting .”