Netherlands opened their 2024 UEFA European Championship on a winning note after edging Poland 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
EURO 2024
Result: Poland v Netherlands
Date: 16 June 2024
Venue: Volksparkstadion
After missing the previous Euro through injury, Virgil Van Dijk returned to skipper the Oranje, who started with the front line of Memphis Depay, Cody Gakpo and Xavi Simons.
Poland, meanwhile, were without their talisman Robert Lewandowski, who started from the bench due to a hamstring problem.
The Poles had a dream start after Adam Buksa gave them the lead on 16 minutes with a header from a corner.
However, the Dutch grew in the game and on the half-hour mark, Gakpo levelled matters with a thumping shot that took a deflection and wrong-footed goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
The Dutch gained momentum and had two good chances just before the interval through Gakpo and Depay but they were both not clinical and the sides went to the break level pegging.
The game got queit in the early stages of the second stanza and only started going again around the hour-mark after Piotr Zielinski had a strike from range that was smothered by shot-stopper Bart Verbruggen.
Ronald Koeman needed better control in midfield and urgency in attack after that with his double change, as Georgio Wijnaldum and Donyell Malen replaced both Joey Veerman and Simons.
Netherlands started to put Poland under pressure in the last 20 minutes as Denzel Dumfries had a chance after going through on goal but he was denied by Szczesny, who made himself big.
The Dutch needed a match winner and they got exactly that from Wout Weghorst, off the bench, seven minutes before time, after he gave them the lead with a strike in the box from a through ball by Nathan Ake.
Poland tried to rescue at least a point in the dying minutes, as they pinned the Oranje in their own half and Zielinski almost snatched the equaliser in added time with a powerful looping shot that was kept out by Verbruggen from dipping in, as the Dutch held on for the won.
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