The Orange Women will hunt for his or her fifth consecutive European title in Mönchengladbach. With twelve closing wins in sixteen tournaments, the Netherlands is the undisputed superpower of European area hockey. And once more, little appears to face in the way in which of one other triumph. Area hockey.nl lists 4 explanation why the Dutch will quickly be flaunting the trophy and one purpose why issues may go improper.
The hunt for European Championship gold begins on Saturday with the primary group match towards Eire, the present quantity eleven on the planet rankings. Subsequent awaits host Germany, supported by the house crowd and quantity six on the planet. The group stage will conclude towards France, the bottom ranked participant within the European Championship at seventeen.
With a range filled with expertise and high quality, the Netherlands begins the EC as clear favorites. For the reason that misplaced Olympic closing in Rio 2016, the Netherlands gained fifteen of the sixteen high prizes to be awarded. However the place precisely does that preponderance of the Dutch workforce lie? 4 elements stand out.
Lineup Orange Women previous to the sport towards China. Photograph: Willem Vernes
1. The ironclad penalty nook
The penalty nook is without doubt one of the largest weapons of the Orange Women. With Yibbi Jansen, the workforce has the perfect nook shooter on the planet. Jansen is aware of the way to maintain calm when the strain is on. The SCHC specialist scored in fourteen of her final sixteen matches. She made a hat trick towards Australia (8-1) and wrote historical past with 5 targets in a single recreation towards Spain (11-2). For the third yr in a row, the Orange’s cornerkanon turned the Professional League’s high scorer with 19 targets. Add to that the choices with Frédérique Matla and Sanne Koolen on the head of the circle and opponents know: a foul within the circle can instantly be punished rock onerous. And in a match that’s locked, this weapon could make simply the distinction.
2. Gamers who could make the distinction
In video games the place the sport will not be going properly, it’s price their weight in gold to have gamers who can pressure the tempo. The Dutch have a number of such varieties at their disposal. Freeke Moes can tear defenses aside along with her dribbling and Marijn Veen along with her creativity. Frédérique Matla additionally belongs to this class: one motion of hers can flip a whole match round. These kind of gamechangers are indispensable at tournaments: they break open what’s locked up, simply when they should.
3. The cold-blooded finishers
For years, Orange has had strikers who’ve been in the proper place on the proper time. It is going to be no totally different at this European Championship: Joosje Burg, Fay van der Elst and Pien Dicke. All gamers who can flip half an opportunity right into a aim. Van der Elst turned the Professional League’s high scorer in area targets for the second yr in a row: eight occasions she scored from open play. The Dutch shouldn’t have to play an ideal assault. A free ball or rebound is commonly sufficient. In a event the place probabilities could be scarce, these “aim thieves” are price their weight in gold. It makes Orange extraordinarily environment friendly and thus extremely harmful.
4. Protection kinds strong basis
As soon as an American sports activities coach stated: offense wins video games, protection wins championships. The Orange appear to have heeded that outdated sports activities knowledge. Though the Dutch girls underneath coach Raoul Ehren managed to attain solely as soon as, the workforce scored solely 22 targets in sixteen Professional League video games, a median of 1.38 per recreation. Lots of these targets got here from incidents. The group on the again kinds a strong basis, with skilled forces like Lisa Publish and Sanne Koolen as anchor factors. Publish additionally performs a key position in penalty nook protection as the primary out runner, whereas Koolen is a harmful possibility offensively on the nook along with her flats from the pinnacle of the circle. Even when issues will not be going as properly offensively, Orange stays powerful to beat.
The most important opponent: Orange itself
But even this Orange will not be untouchable. There’s one issue that may throw a spanner within the works. If there may be one workforce that may cease Orange, it’s Orange itself. Favourite standing could cause an unconscious lack of focus. The main target should be there each second. With out focus, any opponent can turn into harmful. That was evident lately within the final Professional League recreation towards Belgium, during which the Orange got here off uninspired and sloppy. Nonetheless, there appears no purpose to fret: It was the conclusion of an intense Professional League block. The workforce has now had two weeks of relaxation. With recent legs and renewed vitality, there appears little to concern in Mönchengladbach.
Pleasure on the Orange Women after a aim towards Spain. Photograph: Willem Vernes
