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Dutch Delight As Double Strike Foils Ferns

by Jeremy Ruane

Two early goals from fleet-footed Liverpool striker Shanice Van de Sanden fired Holland to a solid 2-0 win over the Football Ferns in a friendly international at the Ijmond Stadium in Velsen, near Amsterdam, on April 7, as the New Zealanders continued their preparations for the Olympic Women's Football Tournament in August.

The visitors enjoyed a solid opening five minutes, but a stray Abby Erceg pass set the tone for the few minutes of play, with Lieke Martens swift to swoop on the Football Ferns' captain's blunder and race forward before lashing a twenty-five yarder narrowly over Erin Nayler's crossbar.

That seventh minute effort resulted in a goal-kick, from which Tony Readings' charges lost possession near half-way. Danielle Van de Donk was quick to exploit the opening this presented, clipping a ball in behind Ali Riley for the lightning-fast Van de Sanden to latch onto and lash past Nayler into the far corner of the net.

Finding themselves 1-0 down after eight minutes, the Football Ferns were eager to get back on level terms. Just two minutes later, a Kirsty Yallop free-kick wasn't cleared, allowing Betsy Hassett to lob the ball back in for Erceg to head on towards Amber Hearn, whose headed effort looped over the bar from an acute angle.

Six minutes later, the Football Ferns produced another neat move as they looked to restore parity, with Annalie Longo, Yallop and Hassett circulating the ball well before the last-mentioned angled a ball through for Katie Bowen to latch onto.

Rather than go for goal herself, she looked to pass the ball towards Hearn, but Mandy Van den Berg intercepted this and sparked a Dutch counter-attack from which they doubled their advantage.

Danielle Van Lunteren played the ball inside to Van de Donk, whose defence-splitting pass caught out Erceg and invited Van de Sanden to dash through a despatch a first-time shot on the run across the advancing figure of Nayler into the far corner of the net - 2-0, with just seventeen minutes on the clock.

And so nearly a third goal two minutes later, as the scorer turned provider with a pass which allowed Martens to turn Erceg in one movement and whip a low cross across the six-yard box, just too far in front of Ellen Jansen for the striker to turn past Nayler.

That was a let-off for the Football Ferns, who were guilty of stray passes galore throughout this phase of the match as they tried to force their way back into the contest against the Euro 2017 host nation, who were closing the visitors down quickly in midfield and forcing them to make the errors which were marring New Zealand's game.

One of those who was suffering as a result of her team-mates' inaccuracies was Amber Hearn, who often vainly ploughed a lone furrow in attack, chasing after any number of hopeful balls forward which, on another day, would have allowed the most prolific striker in New Zealand's history to fulfil her target man tasks with aplomb.

Instead, she generally lacked support from those behind her, with Hassett the only player to buck this unwelcome trend. She saw her shot from the edge of the area blocked in the 37th minute blocked following a Yallop corner, while a free-kick from the latter soon after cleared the bar as the Olympics-bound side failed to draw a save from Loes Geurts throughout the first half.

Nayler, meanwhile, was called upon to keep out an ambitious long-range effort from the hat-trick-seeking Van de Sanden eleven minutes before the interval, the striker having pounced on a stray pass from Katie Duncan and accelerated forward before letting fly from thirty-five yards.

The Football Ferns were far more solid and consistent in the second spell, particularly in terms of their passing. It was when they came to play that crucial pass into the attacking third where they often came unstuck - Yallop's radar, in particular,

was faulty - while they were also restricted by Holland's willingness to close down space and cut out passes directed towards central areas of the pitch.

A change of strategy was required, and Ria Percival looked to instigate it in the 65th minute by bursting out of defence and picking out Hearn with a pass which invited the striker to let rip near the edge of the penalty area.

Her effort was blocked, as was that of Yallop on the rebound. Ten minutes later, and after Longo had copped an accidental boot in the face and Rosie White had been introduced to the fray, a free-kick from the latter resulted in a volley from Hearn being blocked for a corner.

This White delivered beyond the far post, where Hearn's elusive movement had seen her lose all trace of the Dutch defence in order to meet the set-piece and head it inside for a team-mate to capitalise upon.

Kelly Zeeman wasn't whom she had in mind, however, the Dutch stopper hastily clearing her lines as Percival moved in for the kill. The ball was very swiftly returned to White, who angled a ball through for Hearn and Meikayla Moore to pursue, only for Geurts to race off her line and get to it first.

More menace from White - it's not hard to imagine the Liverpool striker combining with new Reds' team-mate Van de Sanden to devastating effect - materialised twelve minutes from time, when her free-kick was headed out to Hearn.

She spread play wide to Hassett, whose volleyed cross invited Longo to let fly from the edge of the area. Yet another defensive block ensued, the same outcome coming to pass four minutes from time when Riley cut in from the left and looked to pick out White with a cross.

The striker's new Liverpool team-mate, Van den Berg, stepped in to end any hopes the Football Ferns harboured of mounting a late comeback, one which would have been well and truly beyond them had Holland struck on either of two occasions in the preceding eight minutes.

Baby-faced assassin Martens was instrumental in both raids, the first seeing her surge out of defence at pace in the 79th minute before releasing Van de Sanden down the left.

It's not often Percival gets outpaced, but it's a measure of the goal-getter's acceleration that she not only did so, but had the presence of mind to attempt an audacious first-time lob of Nayler from about thirty yards on the angle.

This cleared the crossbar, as did Martens' rifled twenty-yarder six minutes from time, following a neat move which also featured substitute Renee Slegers, Jansen, Sherida Spitse and, inevitably, Van de Sanden, who was the difference between the teams on the scoreboard when the final whistle sounded.

The Football Ferns now await the Maracana Stadium draw in a week's time to find out their opponents at the Olympic Women's Football Tournament in August, and allow them to firm up their pre-tournament plans over the course of the next three months.

Holland, meanwhile, having missed out on Rio 2016 at a qualifying tournament they hosted a month ago, have their sights set on being successful hosts at Euro 2017, the UEFA Women's Championship, in around fifteen months' time.

Holland: Geurts; Van Lunteren, Zeeman, Van den Berg, Janssen; Spitse, Van de Donk (Slegers, 46 (booked, 74)), Middag, Martens; Van de Sanden, Jansen (booked, 68)

F'ball Ferns: Nayler; Percival, Moore, Erceg, Riley; Hassett (booked, 59), Duncan, Yallop (White, 71); Bowen, Hearn, Longo (Pereira, 81)

Referee: Reim Hussein (Germany)

Rio 2016