The game began with a bedazzling run the left flank by 2017 FIFA women’s player of the year Lieke Martens! That deceiting turn of hers, that dance with the ball! And a fast paced battle ever since! New Zealand replied in the very next minute with instability in the Dutch box.
The 10th minute saw a massive miss! Janssen dispossessed by Ferns’ Chance who shoots right at the upper pole in a wide open goal! Back to the orange side, Miedima headed over the top in the 12th minute.
That’s pretty much how it happened forever, playing ping-pong! Threats one after the other from both sides! Ferns’ White ran up and stole the ball from Dutch’s feet! Great effort! Rebecca Stott came to the rescue in the 22nd minute and throttled Dutch attack by dispossessing Miedema on the Frontline!
Stott managed to keep up with Lieke Martens too, and keep her shots at Bay! Miedema was denied quite a dmfew times in the first half. 28th minute Spitse sent in the ball in New Zealand’s box from a corner kick, picked up Miedema, cleared partially and onto Martens who chests it over! Close!!!
Completely off topic, but the reason I love Women’s football is the paucity of diving! They don’t stop on being pulled down by clenched jerseys, but tackle it and get back up centering their energies on the ball at all times instead of drama! Beautiful!
The stands were lit up by Dutch musicians supporting their team as best they could! Trumpets and drums uplifted the air!
New Zealand knew what Martens is and kept a close eye and cover at all times and made it difficult for her to go through.
33rd minute- Gregorius and White make a run, Gregorius Cross-passes it to White who takes the chance and shoots it from outside the D, and Veenendaal punches it out of sight, out of bounds!!!
In the 42nd minute kicked off a 3 minute challenge by the Dutch! They colonized the Ferns’ box as Miedama and Martens played the ball back and forth. It was cleared away by Nayler for a corner, taken by Spitse- received by Miedema- passed further in- Martens couldn’t reach it but the ball was deflected to land up in Bloodworth’s feet who shot it just a metre away from the left post!!! That’s the closest either of the teams came to scoring on the first half, and it was a missed opportunity!
The second half:
51st minute had me shriek as Gregorius missed 2 consecutive chances! Chance made a run from the left flank, crossed it in as Gregorius is left inches away! Ball travels further to Ferns’ Hassett who sent it back again to Gregorius, Shot it but saved!
Another chance for the Dutch came in the 59th minute as Martens, again :D, made a run on the left flank, passed it to Miedema- perfectly onside, took an easy shot from the left but the ball slid away from the right! Didn’t realize it wasn’t in till they didn’t celebrate! That close it was!
Woah!! 66th minute, Sanden sends in a pass, Lunteran picks it up, sends it in to Miedema who shoots inches away from the goal but Nayler makes a beast of a save as she drops down on her knees and clears it away!!!! So close, yet so far!
76th minute and substitute Satchell made a long run on the right flank as New Zealand’s counter attack, successfully defeated the defense, reached the goal, but shot on the right net! She. Was. Awesome.
82nd minute and another Dutch colonization! 😉 This time, much more intense! Martens, Van den Donk, Miedema, Sandeh, Bloodworth went all in but just couldn’t get through as the ball went here and there and finally a slow deflection landed safe in Nayler’s gloves!
4 minutes of stoppage time, and Netherlands known for scoring late goals do it AGAIN! A cross is sent in, substitute Beerenstein heads it to the left, Roord head-nukes it into the net right behind the Goalie!!!! Both the substitutes deliver!
The Dutch finish high, maintaining their position of European Champions!
But, both sides had their chances. Possession was nearly equal and the battle could go both ways at all instances. Yes, it was that competitive! An extremely fast paced, action-packed, edge-of-the-seat match! New Zealand may have the weaker side historically, and tactically, but they’ve proved they can put up a fight and no matter the names, they will challenge and maybe will be the winners!
They’ve got to keep up this pace as they gave tough opponents Canada in Group E. Cameroon too have conceded just one goal, and so are at a similar position as the Ferns!
Let’s wait and watch how the final table looks!
All the views above are author’s own. They are not meant to offend anyone. This is not an official coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019. The author owns no rights in this tournament
Trailblazers! 
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