Women's hockey team starts title hunt with 6-2 victory at Olympic Games
The Dutch women's hockey team made a good start to their quest for title retention at the Olympic Games. The team of national coach Paul van Ass defeated the host country, France, 6-2. Yibbi Jansen scored no less than four times from a penalty corner.
Despite being outnumbered, Oranje only managed to open the score just before half-time in the second stadium of the Olympic complex. Frรฉdรฉrique Matla scored with a backhand. Immediately after half-time, it became 2-0 via Jansen, who shot hard from a penalty corner.
A few minutes later, Jansen scored in the same way, curling the ball into the goalkeeper's right-hand corner after a penalty corner. Immediately after Jansen's 3-0, France came back to 3-1. The goal was received with loud cheers despite the host country's hopeless starting position. France always lost to Oranje by at least five goals in major tournaments. The Netherlands is number one in the world, and France is 20th on the global ranking list.
The Dutch Royal Family did not miss the spectacular match of the women's hockey team. King Willem-Alexander, Queen Mรกxima and their eldest daughters Amalia and Alexia cheered on the players from the stands.
Class
It was never exciting again, and in the 45th minute, Jansen made it 4-1, this time with a high penalty corner. After France had reduced the margin to two with a deflected penalty corner, Jansen showed her class again. It was already the 64th goal of the specialist in 73 international matches. Marijn Veen also managed to score from close range.
In the last quarter, Jansen had a few more chances to increase the score from a penalty corner, but the French players were better able to defend themselves.
Gold
The Netherlands will compete against Germany, China, Belgium, and Japan in the group stage.
The Dutch team won gold in Tokyo three years ago by beating Argentina 3-1 in the final.
Reporting by ANP and NL Times
