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Sherida Spitse (l.) Claims the ball against Sweden's attacking star Kosvare Asllani
Photo:
Simon Bellis / dpa
The defending champions from the Netherlands missed a win at the start of the 2022 European Football Championship.
In group C Oranje played in one of the top games of the preliminary round in Sheffield against Sweden 1:1 (0:1).
Jonna Andersson scored the goal for the Swedes (36th minute), after the break Jill Roord equalized (52nd).
Before the game could pick up speed, Bond coach Mark Parsons' team had to cope with the first shock.
When defending a cross, three of his players rattled together and all had to be treated.
Lynn Wilms and Stefanie van der Gragt continued, but goalkeeper and captain Sari van Veenendaal had to be substituted a little later (22').
The inexperienced Daphne van Domselaar came on for the leading player of PSV Eindhoven, the 22-year-old made only her second international match.
She had no chance to concede, however, and Andersson fired free in the penalty area after strong work from Kosovare Asllani on the right.
Sweden impressed in the first half with good tactical defense and aggressive duels.
The Dutch offensive with star striker Vivianne Miedema, Lieke Martens and Roord from Wolfsburg was rarely able to stage itself.
Shortly before the break, the 2017 European champions suffered another injury, central defender Aniek Nouwen limped out on one leg after a tackle and was replaced by Marisa Olislagers (42').
Coincidence helps to equalize
In the second round, Oranje came back with more momentum in front of 21,342 spectators, but there was a lack of assignment in the backward movement.
Sweden had two brilliant counterattacks early on, but both goalscorer Andersson (49') and Bayern full-back Hanna Glas (50') played a poor final pass.
Chance helped with the equalizer.
After a solo, Miedema initially played a one-two with Danielle van de Donk.
Her next pass got stuck, however, so the ball came to the free-standing Roord, who shot from 14 meters from the turn unstoppable for Hedvig Lindahl.
The game was now wide open, with both teams pushing for the winning goal.
For the Swedes, Fridolina Rolfö set the pace, on the other side Miedema got stronger and stronger.
Sweden had a little more possession, the Netherlands relied more on the counterattack.
Substitute goalkeeper van Domselaar was convincing and made some good saves.
That's why there was no further goal.
In Group C everything is open after the 2-2 draw between Portugal and Switzerland in the early evening.
On Wednesday, there will be a duel between Sweden and Switzerland (6 p.m.) on the second match day, the Dutch are clearly favored against Portugal (9 p.m.).
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