New Delhi: Substitute Wout Weghorst scored a stunning late winner with his first touch, securing the Netherlands a deserved 2-1 comeback victory over Poland in their Group D opener at Euro 2024 on Sunday.
Weghrost had barely been on the field when he slide home Nathan Ake’s perfect pass into the area in the 83rd minute to send the tens of thousand of “oranje” fans at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion into raptures.
“So important to get the early win and for me personally it’s a dream scenario,” the 31-year-old said of his 12th goal for the Netherlands. “I saw it coming and I felt the goal coming. Our aim now is to leave with the trophy.”
As anticipated, the Dutch dominated from the outset with their slick-passing attacks. However, they were stunned in the 16th minute when Adam Buksa, standing in for Polish legend Robert Lewandowski, outjumped three defenders to head home a corner from stand-in captain Piotr Zielinski.
The Netherlands equalized in the 29th minute when lively forward Cody Gakpo’s low shot from outside the area deflected off defender Bartosz Salamon, beating goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
The profligate Dutch missed a string of first-half chances: classy midfielder Tijjani Reijnders shot just wide, Memphis Depay fluffed two good opportunities, Gakpo put another shot over and Virgil van Dijk saw a close-range strike saved.
The Dutch missed a string of first-half chances: classy midfielder Tijjani Reijnders shot just wide, Memphis Depay squandered two excellent opportunities, Gakpo fired another shot over the bar, and Virgil van Dijk had a close-range effort saved.
At the defence, Van Dijk seemed one step ahead of his man Ake marauded forward to start attacks.
The Dutch missed several chances in the second half as well, with Denzel Dumfries seeing a header clawed away by Szczesny and Xavi Simons shooting wide on break before Weghort came to rescue.
Dutch coach Ronald Koeman will be relieved his team started with a win, with challenging matches against Austria and France looming in Group D.
For Polish coach Michal Probierz, it was a disappointing result despite his team’s strong defensive efforts, marking the end of his eight-match unbeaten run with the national side.
