France ends Dutch defense of women’s Euro

ROTHERHAM

France coach Corinne Diacre said Les Bleues are not satisfied with just breaking new ground by reaching the semifinals for the first time at a women’s Euro after beating defending champion the Netherlands 1-0 after extra-time on July 23.

Eve Perisset’s penalty on 102 minutes finally broke the Dutch resistance in Rotherham to set up a semi-final clash with Germany on July 27.

But the scoreline did not do justice to the gulf in class between the sides as France was frustrated for 90 minutes by the brilliance of young goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar.

“We’ve reached a new level for us tonight but that’s not the end,” said Diacre, who had been fiercely criticized for her part in France’s quarterfinal exit on home soil at the World Cup three years ago. “We are looking to reach the final.”

Defeat rounded off a difficult tournament for the Dutch, who had been weakened by injuries to key players and coronavirus cases.

Vivianne Miedema was fit to return after she missed the group stage wins over Portugal and Switzerland due to COVID.

However, the Arsenal striker looked well short of match fitness as one of the world’s best players struggled to have any meaningful impact on the game.

France scored five in the first half of its opening game against Italy and could easily have repeated that feat in the opening 45 minutes.

The Netherlands lost veteran goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal for the rest of the tournament to a shoulder injury in their opener against Sweden, but Van Domselaar has shone in her absence.

The 22-year-old had made just one international appearance prior to Euro 2022, but now looks certain to keep her place as the Dutch number one going forward.

“I just told her has the best goalkeeping performance at a Euros since Nadine Angerer in 2013 and she won a Ballon d’Or that year,” said Netherlands coach Mark Parsons on Van Domselaar. “Tonight she was world class.”