Netherlands has put apart its coaching pitch troubles to focus on its opening match of the Women’s World Cup towards debutant Portugal on Sunday, coach Andries Jonker mentioned.
Jonker had blasted FIFA on Wednesday, calling the worldwide soccer federation “amateurish” for the poor pitch his ninth-ranked squad was given for coaching.
“We played nine against nine, on a field of 70 meters by 50 meters. That was the maximum,” Jonker mentioned on Saturday. “That’s the end of that now. I don’t want to dwell on it anymore. It’s about the match. We’re going to play football now.”
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The Dutch, runners-up on the 2019 World Cup, beat Portugal 3-2 within the group stage of final yr’s European Championship.
Team captain Sherida Spitse echoed her coach, saying their coaching troubles are behind them and so they had been centered on getting their marketing campaign off to begin.
“Enough has been said about the pitch,” Spitse mentioned at Saturday’s press convention. “We are flexible as a group and have handled it well. We did it with the resources we have. Today we can train well. It’s not too bad for us.”
Jonker’s facet is lacking its all-time document scorer Vivianne Miedema, who’s among the many lengthy checklist of gamers sidelined with torn ACLs. Miedema injured hers taking part in for Arsenal in December.
Netherlands meets reigning champion United States on July 27, however Jonker mentioned his squad can’t look previous Sunday’s opener.
“This is our most important match of the group stage. We’ve been talking about this since June 19, the first day of preparation. We have to win,” he mentioned. “That makes it much easier for us.”
The Dutch play Vietnam on August 1 of their last group sport.
Portugal, which just lately held European champion England to a 0-0 draw, faces Vietnam on July 27, then the US on August 1.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com