France 1-0 Netherlands AET (Perisset ‘102 P)
A tale of unhappy campers, hoping for a happy summer ending. If Corinne Diacre knew her hopes of still being in charge when France head to the 2023 World Cup rested on guiding her malcontents to a first ever European Championship semi-final, then Mark Parsons needed only to look behind him for the first rumblings of Dutch dissent.
Jill Roord’s well-documented criticisms of the Netherlands head coach had been a calculated risk. She knew that voicing the players’ collective bewilderment at his long team-talks and her concern at the demise of their possession football since Sarina Wiegman’s departure would likely provoke a reaction. Here she was, beginning the most crucial test of her country’s title defence on the bench.
Quite apart from Roord, those who have suggested the 2017 champions are not in a healthy shape were vindicated in Rotherham.
Vivianne Miedema’s return should have been rousing; instead, the Arsenal forward lacked sharpness, having missed two games through Covid. The deeper Miedema dropped in search of the ball, the more it should have been an indication of her playing in a familiar role as she does under Jonas Eidevall. Instead, it was a sign she had become isolated and as a result, the louder the alarm bells rang at this peculiar concoction of world-class talent and sub-standard cohesion.
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There are mitigating factors Parsons can feasibly look back on, from a difficult build-up – highlighted best by the heavy defeat to England – to Miedema and Jackie Groenen’s positive tests in the group stages. Injuries have been even harsher. Lieke Martens, Player of the Tournament five years ago and the face of Wiegman’s champions, was ruled out for the duration this time around, along with goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal.
The difference for France is that even without Marie-Antoinette Katoto, the pace of this young attack provides exactly the fluidity Netherlands have been missing. There was no fire-start from a side who were ahead within the first nine minutes of all of their group matches – but Kadidiatou Diani drove at the Dutch with such ferocity, and the ball fell sweetly to Sandie Toletti, only for her to blaze her chance wide.
Whatever you say about Netherlands’ lack of organisation at the back in the group stages, they do not lack instinct. Melvine Malard was turning awkwardly but as she found herself 10 yards out, it would have been easier to score than miss when Stefanie van der Gragt appeared miraculously on the line to clear. It was all the more miraculous when she did it again, Grace Geyoro appealing in vain for a handball as Van der Gragt put her body on the line.
It is no secret that French boss Diacre is not universally popular with her squad. In the absence of morale, her and Parsons’ approach is essentially the same: pick their XI best players, put them in roughly the right places and let them do the rest. France, at least, are playing to their own strengths.
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How 'rockets' from Phil Neville and 'bad reports' turned Beth Mead into Euro 2022 hero12 July, 2022Netherlands, on the other hand, hoped Lineth Beerensteyn would add width, having failed to utilise their wingers to full effect so far. That is not solely down to Martens’ injury. For all Danielle van de Donk’s technical skills, this is a system that does not allow the midfield to keep control.
Before she was dropped, Roord flitted between the right and the middle, impressing less in the No 10 role. Victoria Pelova again showed why she is attracting interest from Europe’s top clubs, but for her runs to bear fruit she needed options that she did not often have.
Netherlands are capable of so much more. As they grew into the game, they had Daphne van Domselaar for her short-stopping that ensured they still had hope of meeting Germany in the last four. The best was yet to come, in the final seconds when a one-handed save denied Wendie Renard from a header.
Miedema had seen one of the best chances to break the deadlock, but could not keep her shot down and touched it first time over the bar. Delphine Cascarino was guilty of worse; all she had to do was get on the end of Selma Bacha’s cross and head to the far post, but went for the direct option and saw her attempt go wide.
France cannot afford to be so wasteful against Germany, but when the breakthrough finally came from the spot, there was no real dispute, Dominique Janssen getting none of the ball as she brought down Diani from behind. Eve Perisset had enough power on her penalty even as Van Domselaar went the right way.
For Netherlands, many of these problems are not new. There is an argument that they were in chaos when Wiegman arrived, and that almost a year after she departed they are still bearing the brunt of her exit.
That is inevitable. That Van Domselaar and Van der Gragt were the reasons they stayed in this tie for so long was not – and it was only a matter of time before those defences would falter.
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