Flash of anger fueled U.S. comeback
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The Netherlands was on its way to Women’s World Cup history Thursday when it made the biggest mistake of the tournament. It poked the bear.
With the Dutch leading the U.S. by a goal and seemingly in control of the group-play match, midfielder Danielle van de Donk laid out American captain Lindsey Horan with a vicious cross-body block along the touch line.
Uh-oh.
That made Horan mad. Then moments later she got even, climbing gingerly off the turf and dunking on the whole Dutch team, heading in a Rose Lavelle corner kick at the near post to salvage a 1-1 tie and leave the U.S. in control of its own destiny heading into next week’s group-play finales.
“Instead of crying about it, she just goes and makes a statement,” U.S. Coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “And basically shows everyone the direction that the game is going to take.”
With the draw, the Americans and the Netherlands share the top spot in the group table with four points apiece. But the U.S. leads on goal differential, so if it beats Portugal and maintains any part of that two-score edge, it wins the group and will be rewarded with an easier path through the knockout rounds.
They have Van de Donk to thank for that.
After the play along the sideline, a furious Horan sought out Van de Donk, her club teammate at Lyon, in the Dutch penalty area as the teams sent up for the corner kick. At first players tried to separate the two before Japanese referee Yoshimi Yamashita briefly paused the match for an attempt at peace talks. That went nowhere.
“I got a little heated and she got to hear it,” Horan said. “I don’t think you ever want to get me mad. I don’t react in a good way.”
Van de Donk thought it was much ado about nothing.
“It was just a duel along the sideline that I won,” she said. “She came over. We just had a little talk and the referee came in between. It wasn’t really necessary. I mean, we just play football again after that.”
Horan’s teammates knew how she’d settle things.
“We were like, ‘OK, now you’ve got to score,’ ” Sophia Smith said. “You can’t do all that and not score.”
“We were feeling like it was coming,” Alex Morgan added. “After the ref pulled Lindsay and Van de Donk aside, I felt like something was going to happen.”
And it did, with Horan losing her mark as she dashed through traffic for the near post. She then went high to reach Lavelle’s in-swinging corner, deflecting it off defender Esmee Brugts and into the net in the 62nd minute.
“It’s a big game,” Smith said. “She’s a big player that steps up in big games.”
For the first hour, everything had gone the Netherlands’ way. When Jill Roord scored in the 17th minute, the Dutch became the first team to lead the U.S. in a World Cup game since 2011. That was also the last time the U.S, the two-time defending champions, had lost in this tournament.
But with the Netherlands dominating possession and playing keepaway in the midfield, the Americans’ 18-game unbeaten streak was in danger. So was another: the Netherlands hadn’t beaten the U.S. in 32 years. Only two players on the team were even alive the last time it happened, and both were wearing diapers then.
The Dutch have been getting close though. Thursday’s game was a replay of the 2019 World Cup final, won by the U.S., 2-0. The teams also met in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics, playing to a draw before the Dutch were eliminated on penalty kicks.
Those two games filled the Dutch with confidence.
“We are not afraid of the U.S.A.,” Andries Jonker said before the match.
Maybe. But some of them were a little starstruck.