Andries Jonker is moderately satisfied with the Orange women’s victory in the farewell match against Finland heading towards the European Championship in Switzerland. The national coach thought his team played well before halftime but also noted that his team significantly declined after halftime.
In the first half, Oranje performed excellently on Thursday. Thanks to two goals from Vivianne Miedema, the score was 2-0 after half an hour. The Finnish women hardly had anything to contribute. But after halftime, the Dutch national team declined, and the team barely created any opportunities.
“I was very satisfied with the game in the first half,” said Jonker afterward in the mixed zone. “We played football where you thought: is that opponent even doing anything? It looked very easy. Well, making something look easy is very difficult.”
“But their coach sharpened things up during halftime, and we didn’t have enough of a response to that. We became careless in passing and had to defend much more than we liked. With that, we helped them get back into the game.”
The poorer play after halftime led to a consolation goal just before the end, leaving Oranje with a bitter feeling. “That’s very annoying. You shouldn’t give away goals, even if you’re leading 2-0. Daphne van Domselaar (the goalkeeper, ed.) was rightly furious.”
The match against Finland was reminiscent of the match against Scotland (1-1) in May. Then too, the Dutch national team played a good first half, but a (much) poorer second followed. In any case, Oranje has looked inconsistent in recent months.
But Jonker does not believe in a structural problem and does not think that the inconsistency stems from a lack of sharpness among his players. “That has nothing to do with it. In my three years as national coach, I have never been able to catch the players not feeling like it.”
“If I look at the data from this match again… That’s not it. They did what they always do. But it’s about mutual coordination and accuracy on the ball. And sometimes keeping it simpler.”
Jonker is not worried and believes that “the foundation has been laid” for the European Championship. But he also sees that there are still plenty of points for improvement more than a week before the tournament in Switzerland. “Then it’s about essentials, which I will mention again in the coming days.”
Despite the poorer second half, Jonker fully enjoyed his last home match as national coach. The Amsterdammer has to leave after the tournament and was last on the sidelines for a match of the Orange women in the Netherlands.
“I realize that I’m doing things for the last time,” Jonker said. “For example, I see coffee lady Anja from the hotel for the last time. I also had such a moment during the lap of honor. People went wild and were ecstatic. I felt nostalgia. As is known, it is not my choice to leave.”
According to Jonker, the good atmosphere in the stadium, which was filled with twelve thousand supporters, indicated that Oranje had achieved something special under his leadership. “Inspiring was one of the goals when I took office. When you see people tonight, you think: yes, that has succeeded.”