Netherlands win European championship for first time
Vivianne Miedema scores brace and ends tournament on four goals
Record Dutch attendance of 28,182 watch on in Enschede
The Netherlands beat Denmark 4-2 in the UEFA Women’s EURO Netherlands 2017 Final to be crowned European champions for the first time, in front of a record Dutch attendance for women’s football of 28,182.
Result Netherlands 4-2 Denmark
Denmark got off to the perfect start in front of an all-Oranje crowd when Nadia Nadim converted a penalty kick with a confident finish. However the hosts did not drop their heads and instead used the setback to their advantage.
Shanice van de Sanden beat her defender on the right wing before finding Miedema on the back post, and the young forward made no mistake from close range to bring the hosts level within the first ten minutes.
The Dutch kicked on from there and took the lead in the 28th minutes when Martens turned her defender on top of the penalty area before curling a left-footed low shot into the far corner with the ball kissing Stina Lykke Petersen’s left post before going in.
Denmark captain Pernille Harder scored five minutes later to bring the Danes level and make history as her fine left-footed finish after her solo run made it the highest-scoring first half in any senior men’s or women’s EURO final.
After the break, the Dutch came out firing and captain Sherida Spitse restored the hosts’ lead with a free-kick that she virtually passed into the bottom corner. The goal was Spitse’s third of the tournament with her previous two also being from set pieces, both from the penalty spot.
Miedema scored her second of the match in the 89th minute to bring the Oranje Leeuwinnen their first ever European championship in front of their home supporters.
The stats 1 – Netherlands lift first major women’s trophy, and they did so in memorable fashion, making history in front of their home fans. The last host nation to win UEFA Women's EURO was Germany in 2001.
3 – Three clubs had three players involved in the final: Ajax (Groenen, Van Der Gragt and Van Lunteren), Arsenal (Van Veenendaal, Miedema and Van de Donk) and Rosengard (Simone Boye Sorensen, Sanne Troeslgaard and Sofie Junge Pedersen).
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