DUNEDIN, New Zealand (Reuters) – The Netherlands have put aside their training pitch troubles to concentrate on their opening match of the Women’s World Cup against debutants Portugal on Sunday, coach Andries Jonker said.
Jonker had blasted FIFA on Wednesday, calling the global soccer federation “amateurish” for the poor pitch his ninth-ranked squad were given for training.
“We played nine against nine, on a field of 70 meters by 50 meters. That was the maximum,” Jonker said on Saturday. “That’s the end of that now. I don’t want to dwell on it anymore. It’s about the match. We’re going to play football now.”
The Dutch, runners-up at the 2019 World Cup, beat Portugal 3-2 in the group stage of last year’s European Championship.
Team captain Sherida Spitse echoed her coach, saying their training troubles are behind them and they were focused on getting their campaign off to a good start.
“Enough has been said about the pitch,” Spitse said at Saturday’s press conference. “We are flexible as a group and have handled it well. We did it with the resources we have. Today we can train well. It’s not too bad for us.”
Jonker’s side are missing their all-time record scorer Vivianne Miedema, who is among the long list of players sidelined with torn ACLs. Miedema injured hers playing for Arsenal in December.
The Netherlands meet reigning champions United States on July 27, but Jonker said his squad cannot look past Sunday’s opener.
“This is our most important match of the group stage. We’ve been talking about this since June 19, the first day of preparation. We have to win,” he said. “That makes it much easier for us.”
The Dutch play Vietnam on Aug. 1 in their final group game.
Portugal, who recently held European champions England to a 0-0 draw, face Vietnam on July 27, then the U.S. on Aug. 1.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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