Kiwis lose after going ‘toe-to-toe’ with Dutch

New Zealand coach Gareth Turnbull was ‘‘gutted’’ to lose the opening game at the under-20 Women’s World Cup but claimed being able to compete ‘‘toe-to-toe’’ with a classy Dutch team gave him hope for the future.

An improved second-half showing and a world-class strike by Hannah Blake weren’t quite enough to deny the Netherlands outfit yesterday as New Zealand suffered a 2-1 loss in scorching heat in France.

‘‘We’re obviously gutted about the result because we had a real belief we could get something from this game,’’ Turnbull said.

‘‘The strategy was to be conservative in the first half to ensure we got into the halftime break still in the game, address the problems the Netherlands were creating – which I felt we did really well – and then really go at them in the second half,’’ he added.

‘‘I was pleased with the application and character shown by the girls during that second spell and, on a different day, we possibly could have won the game ourselves.’’

It looked like the Kiwis were on track to get at least a point on the board as the final 10 minutes approached at 1-1 but Eva Van Deursen had other ideas, finding the bottom corner of Anna Leat’s goal after some slick interplay.

‘‘To be able to compete toe-totoe for 90 minutes against one of the best teams in Europe really shows how far the development of female football is coming in New Zealand,’’ Turnbull said.

With matches against hosts France and Ghana still to come, New Zealand will feel their chances of progressing past the pool stages are still alive.