Heartbreak in England: France knocks Dutch women out of Euro 2022
The Netherlands was knocked out of Euro 2022 on Saturday night by France. A penalty in extra time was enough to knock the reigning European champions out at the quarter-final stage. The penalty was scored by Eve Perisset.
The Netherlands was boosted by the return of star striker Vivianne Miedema who played her first tournament match. This was also the first match without Lieke Martens, whose tournament had ended early due to a foot injury.
France dominated the first half, with the Netherlands lucky to go into halftime with a 0-0 scoreline. The first significant moment of danger came when French winger Delphine Cascarino hit the post with a volley from outside the box.
As has been the case throughout the tournament, Stephanie van de Gracht was the main reason the Netherlands still had a chance by halftime. After saving a certain goal with a block on the goal line to stop Melvine Malard’s shot on 34 minutes, she stopped another certain goal after 40 minutes when she was on hand again to clear a ball from the goal line. This time it was Grace Geyoro who was denied.
The Leeuwinnen defense did a much better job of containing the French attack in the second half but was still fortunate that the first 90 minutes ended goalless. With only four minutes left of regular time, Cascarino put in an excellent cross for Grace Geyoro to head in, but she put it wide with the goal at her mercy.
And so, the crowd of 9,764 at the New York Stadium in Rotherham watched the match go to extra time, with the final score in regular time being 0-0.
France took the lead after 12 minutes of extra time when Dominique Janssen fouled Melvine Malard in the box for a penalty. The penalty was given after the VAR official, Tiago Martins, told Ivana Martincic to check the screen to review the incident. Right back Eve Perisset took the penalty, and despite goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar getting a hand to it, the Dutch keeper could not keep the ball out.
The Netherlands changed their tactics after the goal to be more attacking, but they could not trouble the French defense. France will now go on to play Germany in the semi-final on Wednesday.
