The Oranjevrouwen (Orange Women) secured a labored victory on Thursday in their send-off match leading up to the European Championship in Switzerland. Vivianne Miedema was twice accurate in Leeuwarden against Finland: 2-1.
Miedema has been struggling with a hamstring injury for the past months, but she’s completely fit again just before the European Championship. The striker already had two goals after half an hour on Thursday. Those were her 98th and 99th goals in the Orange shirt.
Thus, she is only one goal away from the magical threshold of 100 international goals. Miedema is by far the Orange top scorer of all time, followed by Lieke Martens (62 goals).
Another high-scoring striker was missing: Lineth Beerensteyn. She is in a race against time to be fit for the start of the first European Championship match against Wales next week. She watched the match from the stands.
From the sidelines, Beerensteyn hardly saw her teammates gain confidence heading towards the European Championship. The start of the match was fine, but after that, the game became sluggish and pale, creating large spaces for Finland.
Oranje will stay in Zeist for the coming days, after which the team will travel to Switzerland on Monday. There, the match against Wales will follow on Saturday. Later, matches against England and France await.
Finnish keeper blunders
Jonker emphasized beforehand that the starting eleven from Thursday is not necessarily the starting eleven for the first European Championship match. But by fielding the expected eleven players, Jonker seemed to confirm that this team should do it next week.
Oranje performed well in the new stadium of Cambuur – which was opened in 2024 – before halftime. The team did not get into trouble and showed some good attacks. Although the opposition from European Championship participant Finland left something to be desired.
After just three minutes, Oranje almost scored, but Miedema’s first chance did not result in a goal. The striker cleverly freed herself, but just didn’t get the ball into the goal. After eleven minutes, the captain finally scored.
The goal was thanks to the Finnish keeper Anna Koivunen, who passed the ball to a teammate who was fully covered. Esmee Brugts intercepted and after a clever tap from Daniëlle van de Donk, Miedema only had to tap it in.
No hundredth for Miedema
After more than half an hour, it was again successful. A Finnish defender seemed to have a blackout and just walked away from the ball, while Miedema was still next to her. The Orange striker was alert and shot in.
After halftime, the game Oranje was significantly less. Jonker’s team, apart from a disallowed goal by Jill Roord, hardly came close to a goal. On the other hand, the Finnish attacker Sanni Franssi failed in a one-on-one with Van Domselaar.
It was one of the chances that Finland got in the second half against a mediocre Oranje. A goal against just before time was a logical consequence. Oona Siren shot controlled and gave the Netherlands a considerable damper.
The victory was a fact for Jonker and his team, but it was not great nine days before the European Championship start. With the matches against Germany (4-0 defeat) and Scotland (1-1) fresh in mind in the previous international period, it offers little hope for a glorious European Championship.