NOS Football•yesterday, 7:52 PM
No Martens. No Greens, no Roord, no Miedema and no Van Domselaar. The Orange Women start the qualifying series for the 2025 European Championship battered and battered.
Yet Andries Jonker does not simply want to lower the bar. “We always play to win and that is not going to change,” says the national coach. “The starting point has changed somewhat. Where we said for a year ‘we can beat anyone’, we now have to build a team that can rightly say this.”
National coach Jonker about the Dutch team plagued by injuries: ‘Still playing to win’
The Dutch national team starts a new qualifying series this week. Qualification for the 2025 European Championship in Switzerland is at stake.
The fact that Jonker has to make do with other players does not worry him. “What remains is still great. A number of girls will now have to stand up.”
The kick-off of the first match is on Friday in the Stadio San Vito Gigi Marulla in Cosenza, where the Netherlands will immediately face their toughest opponent. Italy is number fourteen in the world. On April 9, number sixteen in the global rankings awaits Norway in the Rat Verlegh Stadium in Breda.
Goalkeeper change
Important players such as Daphne van Domselaar (hip), Vivianne Miedema (knee), Jill Roord (knee), Jackie Groenen (hamstring) and Lieke Martens (hamstring) are missing due to injuries.
That is why Jonker called up three debutants in the selection: defender Gwyneth Hendriks (PSV), midfielder Nina Nijstad (PSV) and goalkeeper Daniëlle de Jong (FC Twente).
One of the injuries is that of first goalkeeper Van Domselaar. This means that Lize Kop of Leicester City will probably start against the Italians. “I’m enjoying goalkeeping in England. I want to take that with me here and ultimately the trainer will decide,” Kop tempers expectations for a starting place.
Criticism of Orange
After missing out on an Olympic ticket in February, the Dutch team was criticized. Several players would be too old and too few would be selected. Now there is an opportunity for Jonker to see the new generation in action at the number eight in the world.
After the diptych against Italy and Norway, the next matches in the European Championship qualifying are on May 31 and June 4. Then Finland is the opponent twice. The group stage ends in July against Italy (July 12) and Norway (July 16).
Jonker must try to finish in the first two with the Dutch team in the group with Italy, Norway and Finland. Those countries go directly to the European Championship. The numbers three and four in the group will play play-offs for a ticket in the autumn.
