Netherlands and Spain left hungry for more
Monday, May 30, 2011
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Netherlands coach Johan van Heertum and Spain's Ángel Vilda conceded a point apiece was fair after their sides opened Group B with a 1-1 draw, though the former was grateful for his keeper.
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Netherlands coach Johan van Heertum and Spain's Ángel Vilda conceded a point apiece was fair after their sides opened Group B with a 1-1 draw, though the former was grateful for the heroics of his goalkeeper.
Ángel Vilda, Spain coach
Both teams will go away thinking the win was on offer as there were opportunities at both ends so it remained interesting for everyone in the stadium. There was a lot of good football and plenty of chances so in the end it was a good result for women's football. In the first half Spain were superior and had more chances and in the second half it was more even, both teams had chances it's just that ours were generally clearer.
Our ball circulation was not quite as I hoped – the Netherlands put a lot of pressure on us and because it's so dry the ball wasn't moving as we'd like it to. Against Germany we will need to circulate the ball a lot better. We hope for more favourable conditions as we're used to playing on shorter grass in higher humidity so the ball skips across the surface. We will see.
Johan van Heertum, Netherlands coach
I think a point apiece was fair. In the first half the Spanish had more control of the game but we made a few changes at the interval around our midfield and we did better in the second half. We were nervous, especially in the first half. A lot of players were here last year but they were definitely nervous. They overcame it as the game went on but it's difficult against Spain because they move well between midfield and attack. They put a lot of pressure on the ball and we couldn't release it.
In the first half we tried to build from the back and get the ball to our deeper midfielders but there was no space – the space was behind them because of how Spain line up. There was more space out wide and we exploited that better in the second half. [Laura du Ry] made two good saves in the last 15 minutes and saved a point for us. She also did well in the first half, making a couple of good reaction saves. I'm happy with her.
