Netherlands 1-0 Portugal; Dutch Kickstart FIFA Women’s World Cup With Win
It was finally the turn of the Group E members of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup to send out their own messages for the world as Netherlands clashed against the Portuguese national team on Sunday at the Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Netherlands beat Portugal 1-0 in FIFA Women’s World Cup
The opening match for the Dutch nation of Netherlands was an incredible and impressive depiction of warning which was issued against their opponents, their fellow European country of Portugal which ended with a 1-0 victory for the Dutch nationals.
The Netherlands national team got their opportunity of celebration early into the match right after Stefanie van der Gragt scored a stunning header which found the back of the net in the 13th minute of the match, which was allowed to stand as the lone goal of the match after a proper VAR check.
The stunner scored by Stefanie van der Gragt might as well be one of the last of the goals scored by the wonder woman for her nation as she has previously made announcements regarding her intentions of retiring from international football after the end of the tournament.
With this goal, Gragt has also become the second player ever from the Netherlands to score a goal in two different editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the first being Lieke Martens.
Stefanie van der Gragt header aids Netherlands win over Portugal
Unfortunately for the crowd who were assembled for some action in the Forsyth Barr Stadium, the 13th minute early header remained the only goal scored throughout the match. Throughout the remainder half of the game, the ball was in the court of the Dutch.
All through the remaining time, Netherlands put their everything into defending and maintaining their lead in the match with the difference being intact and giving little to no opportunity for the Portuguese to shoot, successfully ending the match with a cleansheet.
The victorious front, Netherlands are all set to go against the United States in the next fixture, while on the other hand, Portugal will be facing off Vietnam to remain in the race for the round of 16.
