Oranje will play the European Championship cracker against England in Zurich on Wednesday evening. National coach Andries Jonker had previously called the match “spicy” because of the many interconnections, which exist on all levels. “We feel sorry for each other, but we want to win.”
Wiegman most successful Orange coach
Wiegman has been the most important connection between Dutch and English football for years. She was the national coach of Oranje from 2017 to 2021 and led her team to a historic European Championship title (2017) and World Cup final (2019).
The most successful female coach in the Netherlands has been working for the English Football Association for almost four years now. But her ties with the Netherlands have always remained. She follows the Dutch competition, regularly visits her old club ADO Den Haag and lives with her family in Monster.
Apart from the fact that Wiegman worked with a large part of the Orange selection. “I wish the Netherlands all the best, but not when I play against them,” Wiegman said at the press conference on Tuesday in advance. “Then the competition is even more intense than against any other country.”
‘Football mates’ Jonker and Wiegman
“Sarina has gray hair. That means she has a lot of experience,” Jonker said on Tuesday with a laugh at his press conference. That was different at their first meeting. Jonker and Wiegman met in the 1990s, when Wiegman was an intern with Jonker with the girls under sixteen of region West.
Since then, Jonker (62) and Wiegman (55) have been “football mates”. Their paths crossed several more times, including when Wiegman was Orange captain in 2001. Jonker was interim national coach at the time.
Whether this friendship can have an influence tonight? “At the draw we said to each other: ‘You can shake it up’,” says Wiegman.
Jonker: “We are friends. You wish them the best. But we also know that when we play against each other, we want to beat each other.” Who gets into whose head? “I’m older, haha. But I think we can do that just as well.”
Veurink: assistant Wiegman and new national coach Orange
Arjan Veurink has already successfully completed his application with the KNVB, but will be in the spotlight of his new employer on Wednesday evening. Wiegman’s current assistant in England will take over from Jonker as Orange coach after the European Championship.
Wiegman previously called Veurink’s departure “a business separation”. They have been working together for 8.5 years, first at Oranje and then with the English team. Together they won the European Championship title with both countries (2017 and 2022) and reached the World Cup final (2019 and 2023).
Wiegman already said in the run-up to the European Championship that she was not afraid of a double agenda for her assistant. “I trust Arjan, I know what he’s like. He really wants to perform to the max with England until the European Championship and finish it great.”
It would be spicy if Jonker wins from his successor. Jonker himself would have liked to continue as Orange coach for another two years. But he sees it differently. “I’m not playing against Arjan Veurink, am I? No, are you crazy. I hadn’t thought of it that way myself.”
Teammates and partners opposite each other
15 of the 23 selected players have a past in England or will play in the Women’s Super League next season. Of the players from the likely starting eleven, eight were or are active in England.
As a result, many of the Dutch and English players know each other. Daphne van Domselaar and Victoria Pelova will face five of their Arsenal teammates in England. Six of the (future) Chelsea teammates of Wieke Kaptein and Veerle Buurman play for England.
Because of all those connections, there is even contact between the Dutch and English camps during the European Championship. “Then it’s mainly about: how are things with you? Are you in a nice hotel?”, says Kerstin Casparij, who plays for Manchester City with, among others, the English international Alex Greenwood.
There are also some love affairs between Oranje and England. The relationship between Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead is well known. Mead previously had a relationship with Orange player Daniëlle van de Donk.
According to Miedema, the Orange players will not play football differently because of all the connections. “We also often play against each other at club level. We know that this is part of top football. Am I going to hold back against Beth? No, that doesn’t matter.”
Assistants Jonker against new employer
Wiegman thought a month or two ago: what the KNVB can do, I can do too. She had previously lost her assistant Veurink to the KNVB and decided to poach two assistants from the Dutch football association: Janneke Bijl and Arvid Smit.
Bijl and Smit are relatively unknown to the general public, but are praised behind the scenes at the Orange women for their tactical insights. The ideal scenario for the departing Jonker was to remain national coach until the 2027 World Cup and then hand over the baton to Bijl or Arsenal coach Renée Sleegers.
Jonker would have liked Bijl and Smit to have been retained for the KNVB, although he did not speak out strongly about it – presumably so as not to kick the KNVB in the teeth. “I said something about it earlier and will not elaborate further,” the coach said in the podcast Vrouwen 1 in early June.
What impact can Smit and Bijl have on this European Championship cracker? Ultimately, Jonker has a veto for the line-up and tactics. But if the Netherlands tactically outclass the English, there will undoubtedly also be a look at Bijl and Smit in England.
