The Netherlands may have beaten Sweden on their way to winning the last Women’s Euros and reaching the 2019 Women’s World Cup but the sense they will be relieved to survive this high-octane clash with the 2021 Olympic finalists only serves to underline how difficult it is to call the likely winners of this tournament.
A record crowd for a Women’s Euros group game not involving the hosts, of 21,342, witnessed two of the superpowers of the game slug it out in a match that would not be out of place should it be reprised in the final. “I hope so,” Vivianne Miedema, the Netherlands striker, said. “But ... Sweden are one of the favourites, England are up there as well. I think we can give anyone a good game on our day. I like to see that we’re the dark horse and we can just enjoy our tournament.”
