Women’s World Cup 2023: Netherlands in-depth team guide and prediction
Full information on the Orange Lionesses team ahead of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand: the coach, star player, rising star...
Here’s your guide to the Netherlands side at the Women’s World Cup 2023. This article is part of a collaboration with the Guardian along with leading newspapers from each of the participating countries at the tournament.
Netherlands team guide, written by Steven Kooijman for De Telegraaf.
After the Euro 2022 debacle under Mark Parsons, Andries Jonker has revitalised the team. The Orange Lionesses are once again showing traits of Sarina Wiegman’s golden XI, which peaked in grand fashion in 2017 with European Championship gold and in 2019 earned silver at the World Cup. Unlike Parsons, who only worked part-time in the Netherlands in his first months because of club commitments in Portland, Jonker threw himself into the team 24 hours a day from the start. Moreover, he kept his ear to the ground with his players, each of whom he visited, including the contingent of internationals active abroad.
And the Lionesses reaped the benefits. Jonker considered the heavy workload his top players endured and gave some a rest during international windows. This clever thinking has given the coach a supremely fit squad, barring star player Vivianne Miedema of course, who tore a cruciate ligament before the winter break. The injured forward has played the role of sounding board for Jonker, though, who has had weekly contact with the Arsenal star over the phone in the build-up to the World Cup. It is actions such as these that make his squad a close-knit unit.
Although Jonker wants to keep his playing style and starting line-up a “secret” from his opponents for as long as possible, he gave a glimpse of his
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