by In Sunday’s European Championship Group D opener against Poland, striker Wout Weghorst came off the bench to steal a late winner with his first touch and give the Netherlands a well-earned 2-1 comeback victory.
In the eighty-third minute, Weghorst barely had time to enter the game when he slid in Nathan Ake’s exquisite pass into the box, causing tens of thousands of “Oranje” supporters at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion to go crazy.
The 31-year-old said of his 12th goal for the Netherlands, “It’s so important to get the early win, and for me personally, it’s a dream scenario.” I could feel the goal getting closer, could see it coming. Right now, we just want to grab the trophy and be done.
The Dutch dominated from the start with deft passing attacks, as was to be expected. However, they were taken aback in the 16th minute when Adam Buksa, who had come in for the injured Robert Lewandowski for Poland, sprang over three defenders to replace the injured Lewandowski in heading Piotr Zielinski’s corner goal.
In the 29th minute, live wire striker Cody Gakpo gave the Netherlands an equalizer with a low drive from outside the box that beat Wojciech Szczesny after deflecting off defender Bartosz Salamon.
The rapacious Dutch lost a number of first-half opportunities: Memphis Depay squandered two excellent openings, Gakpo curtailed another effort, and Virgil van Dijk had a close-range effort stopped. Chic midfielder Tijjani Reijnders also wasted a shot.
Van Dijk was ahead of his teammate, while Ake defended to start attacks. The Dutch wasted chances in the second half, with Dumfries’ header being saved by Szczesny and Simons’ shot wide before Weghorst saved.
Dutch coach Ronald Koeman is relieved that his team started with a win, preparing for tough games against Austria and France in Group D. Polish coach Michal Probierz is disappointed with the outcome, as it ended his eight-match unbeaten run with the national side.
