The Dutch national team, vice-champion of the 2019 World Cup, narrowly defeated its Portuguese counterpart (1-0) on Sunday in Dunedin, New Zealand, to qualify for Group E in the World Cup, before the match scheduled for Thursday against the United States. .
And soon the orange team, which was deprived of attacking star Vivian Miedema in this competition, advanced in the result thanks to the goal of Ajax Amsterdam defender Stephanie van der Gragt (13).
Then they faced the strong defense of Portugal, who are playing the World Cup for the first time in their history.
Like other favorites like the Norwegians or the Australians at the start of the current World Cup, the Dutch were fearless and largely jostled by the Portuguese upstarts, who were well positioned in defence.
At the end of the match, the Portuguese had the opportunity to equalize after an attack from the right side (82nd minute).
Not necessarily a good omen for Anders Junker’s players ahead of their first shock on Thursday, the replay of the 2019 final in France against the Americans, who dominated Vietnam (3-0 on Saturday).
But in this version, the Netherlands, the stronghold of women’s football, must dispense with its star Vivian Miedema. After tore his cruciate ligament in the Champions League against Lyon last December, the Arsenal man is leading the goalscoring list: 95 goals in 115 appearances.
Lenneth Bernstein, who bears the heavy duty of succeeding him at the top, was not seen much on Sunday against the Seleçao.
