Netherlands 5-0 Australia
By Ben Gilby
Despite producing a performance which was arguably better than in their defeat to Germany on Saturday, the Matildas, without three first choice defenders went down to a heavy loss in Nijmegen.
The Dutch, who came into the game on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Spain at the weekend, were dominant in possession in the early stages, but it was possession from patient passing rather than pressing.
Ironically, Australia had begun to look more solid at the back, largely due to the presence of Emma Checker, but with five minutes gone, all that counted for nothing.
Mary Fowler misjudged her pass which went straight to an orange shirt. Within the twinkle of an eye, Vivianne Miedema got a shot away which was pushed out by Mackenzie Arnold into the path of her Arsenal team mate Jill Roord who couldn’t miss.
The Matildas tried to hit back and seven minutes later a one-two between Sam Kerr and Checker resulted in the ball flying over the bar.
Back came the Netherlands and Miedema hit a shot from long range which was parried by Arnold and cleared for a corner by Checker.
The pressure continued to grow and with twenty minutes gone the Dutch doubled their lead. Danielle van de Donk played in Lieke Martens who hit a shot from the left hand side of the box. The ball bounced in front of Arnold and went under her arms into the net.
Four minutes later, Arnold saved The Matildas after a glorious move from the Dutch. Dominique Janssen had the ball out on the right and fed van de Donk who then played in Martens. The scorer of Holland’s second goal played a delightful reverse pass to Roord who got a shot away which Arnold blocked with her feet.
There was no such luck for Australia on 27 minutes when the heavy press from the Netherlands forced an error and Miedema passed across to Manchester United’s Jackie Groenen who swept the ball into the net for 3-0.
It could have got even worse three minutes later and it was Miedema involved again. This time she found Martens who curled a great effort just wide.
As the half entered its final five minutes, Australia were finally able to launch some offensive moves. Hayley Raso got free on the left, cut inside and got a shot away which Sari van Veenendaal held and it remained 3-0 at the break.
Ahead of the second half, The Matildas head coach Tony Gustavsson brought on Dylan Holmes for her debut and the former Adelaide United star would go on to produce an excellent performance amidst a real baptism of fire.
Australia continued to create coming forward with a real opportunity coming just before the hour mark when Kerr combined with Emily van Egmond to play in Raso. The Everton star’s cross towards Kerr who found her way into the box was just cleared before the Chelsea hot-shot could get there.
The Netherlands responded instantly as Miedema pulled a ball back for van de Donk who forced Arnold into a save.
Back came the Matildas and Checker got forward and played in a dangerous ball which Stefanie van der Gragt sliced out for a corner. The flag kick came in to van Egmond who fed Holmes outside the box and the debutant’s half volley was just over the bar.
The hosts made Australia pay for those two missed opportunities with a great piece of skill. Martens played an outstanding cross field ball towards substitute Lineth Beerenstein. Arnold came out to meet her, but Beerenstein got there first and touched it over the Matildas keeper and into the net.
Within three minutes, even more salt was rubbed into Australian wounds and it was all too easy when Miedema crossed in and Holmes’ attempted clearance went straight to van de Donk and the Arsenal star was not going to miss.
There was one further opportunity for the Matildas to get a goal back. Holmes combined with Emily Gielnik who played it on to Caitlin Foord. Her shot was parried by van Veenendaal into the path of Holmes but the follow up went wide.
It’s been a tough two games in four days for Australia. Ultimately they played two of the top teams in the world whilst unable to put together a full strength squad. It was not unexpected that they would lose both of these games, but even the most pessimistic Matildas fan would not have expected ten goals to be conceded in those matches.
Teams: NETHERLANDS: van Veenendaal, Janssen, van der Gragt, Nouwen, van Dongen, Spitse, van de Donk, Groenen, Roord, Miedema, Martens. Substitutes used: Beerenstein (for Spitse 45), van Es (for Janssen 62), Snoeijs (for Miedema 73), Folkertsma (for Groenen 82), Janssen (for Martens 82),
Scorers: Roord 5, Martens 20, Groenen 27, Beerenstein 67, van der Donk 70.
AUSTRALIA: Arnold, Goad, Brock, Kennedy, Luik, Fowler, van Egmond, Raso, Checker, Kerr, Ford. Substitutes used: Holmes (for Fowler 45), Gielnik (for Raso 62), Mastrantonio (for Brock 79).
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