It’s been a memorable, joyful occasion. In the first half in particular, the match lived up to the very highest expectations, and after six goals and a lot of excellent, creative football it ended with a stadium packed with orange-clad fans celebrating a fantastic home victory. Thanks for being there with me. Bye!
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Shanice van de Sanden does some chatting:
I’m so emotional. I mean, all the people. I’m so proud of all my girls, the whole squad. This is amazing. Listen. This is brilliant. I think this is the biggest thing that can happen for women’s football in Holland. We’ll see what will happen. For now, we will enjoy it.
“It was so hard today,” says Vivianne Miedema. “Denmark did so well. We changed the game in the second half. I’m so happy we did it in the second half”
And now the Dutch players step up to collect their medals and, eventually, the trophy.
Simone Sorensen, who came off in the second half, is one of two players who need crutches to reach the podium.
The Danish players walk through a guard of honour composed of the victorious Dutch as they collect their runners-up medals.
Lieke Martens, Holland’s excellent, skilful left-winger, is named player of the tournament.
Pierre van Hooijdonk is back with his silver jacket, bringing the trophy out for the presentation.
There are, inevitably, tears among the defeated Danes. They contributed fully to an excellent tournament, and performed well in the final, but it was not, in the end, enough. The result will be a crushing disappointment, particularly given that they took an early lead, but it was not unfair.
EUROPEES KAMPIOEN! pic.twitter.com/YZb3CfgxLa
— OranjeLeeuwinnen (@oranjevrouwen) August 6, 2017
Holland were the better team today and deserve their victory. The second half was a bit disappointing after a thrilling opening 45 minutes, but we can’t be greedy. Overall, it was a fine final.
Holland have won Euro 2017!
90+5 mins: The referee allows an extra minute for assorted stoppage-time stoppages, but when a Danish cross from the left floats behind their final chance goes with it. Veenendaal boots the goal-kick upfield, and the whistle blows before it lands!
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90+3 mins: The Dutch have the ball on the right, cross it into the area, and Danielle van de Donk gets to it, controls it, and passes it back. Holland will be happy to keep the ball until the whistle blows.
90+2 mins: The corner comes in, Nadim gets to it first, but the header loops limply wide.
90+1 mins: There will be four minutes of stoppage time, and they start with a Danish goalkeeper. First, though, another stoppage: Kika van Es is on the ground.
90 mins: Shanice van se Sanden comes off, and Jansen comes on.
GOAL! Holland 4-2 Denmark (Miedema, 89 mins)
Miedema is played in down the inside left channel, cuts inside and then lashes a low shot inside the near post, with Petersen wrong-footed. Lovely goal from the new Arsenal striker, and the hosts have this game in the bag!
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88 mins: Martens, whose skill on the left has contrasted with the pace offered by Van de Sanden on the other flank, keeps the ball for a bit near the corner flag before playing back to a team-mate. Time is running out for Denmark, and Holland seem in control.
85 mins: Denmark steal the ball off her and counter, with Nadim running down the left and sending the ball across the edge of the area, but the shot when it comes is weak and deflected. Still, the Danes end up with a corner. And the corner ends up with Troelsgaard slamming an excellent 20-yarder that almost kisses the post on its way wide.
83 mins: Van de Sanden wins the ball in her own half, hares down the wing, gets near the corner flag and then attemts some hardcore timewasting. It has come to this.
82 mins: And now another stoppage, for an injury to Spitse. Denmark bring Pederson off and Christiansen on.
80 mins: Into the last 10 minutes. The last couple of minutes have been spent entirely down the Dutch left flank, without anyone attempting a cross or so much as an infield pass.
78 mins: This is a disappointing, staccato half of football, too often interrupted by the referee’s whistle and lengthy stoppages. The latest is for a Danish offside.
77 mins: Line Roddik comes on for Sorensen.
76 mins: Simone Boye Sorensen is being helped from the field, unable to put any weight on her right leg, and her final appears to be over.
73 mins: The free-kick picks out Sofie Pedersen, whose header is weak but will count as a shot on target.
72 mins: Stephanie van der Gragt is booked or fouling Harder on the left wing. The outstanding Harder is Denmark’s best chance of getting back in this game, assuming she’s allowed to stay on her feet when the ball comes her way.
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70 mins: Groenen’s 25-yard shot flies not a long way high of goal, with Petersen very much beaten.
67 mins: Denmark win a corner on the left, and Veenendaal flaps it weakly to Thogersen, 15 yards out, who snatches at the chance, miskicks and sends the ball high.
64 mins: Denmark have a chance at the other end. Harder nicks the ball off a defender on the left wing, slides the ball into the area but the resulting shot flies wide of the near post.
62 mins: Great chance! And a great save! Martens’ cross from the left is excellent; the attempted clearing header is terrible; and the ball drops to Miedema beyond the far post, with an apparently simple volleyed chance. But Petersen comes out, spreads herself and gets in the way of the shot!
61 mins: The referee’s whistle keeps disrupting things at the moment. Denmark bring on Thogersen for Kildemoes.
Spitse, the Dutch Captain, keeps the scoring ratio up with a Free Kick past an unsighted GK! A goal every 10mins! 3-2 🇳🇱 #NEDDEN #WEURO2017 pic.twitter.com/Di4PXWxTdD
— Samantha Quek (@SamanthaQuek) August 6, 2017
58 mins: The Danes haven’t really been out of their half for about 10 minutes, though they’ve just won a free kick so at least have a free chance to clear.
57 mins: A substitution: Desiree van Lunteren is going off, and Dominique Janssen is replacing her.
56 mins: Van de Sanden is finding too much space on the right for Holland, though at the moment she isn’t finding the right crossa t the end of it. One move breaks down because of a lack of numbers and movement in the penalty area, and the next centre hits the nearest defender.
54 mins: Holland are pressing again, looking for a killer blow. Van Es’s 25-yarder, however, is not it.
GOAL! Holland 3-2 Denmark (Spitse. 51 mins)
Van de Donk’s run across the ball confuses the Danish goalkeeper, who steps to her right expecting a left-footed shot, which allows the right-footed Spitse to simply pass it into the other corner.
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50 mins: Van de Donk is fouled y Sanne Troelsgaard on the edge of the D, and Holland have themselves a shooting chance.
48 mins: It’s curled into the area, but straight to Van Veenendaal, who punches clear.
48 mins: Van Es gets a foot to the ball in front of Theresa Nielsen, and Denmark have a corner. It is, we’re told, the first of the game.
46 mins: They’re off! Again! Both sides, incidentally, are unchanged.
The players are back out. More of the same, please.
Kelly Smith calls it “the best 45 minutes of women’s football I’ve ever seen”. It’s been great entertainment: some shaky defending, much fine attacking, four goals, skill, pace, drama, sunshine, the works.
Half time: Holland 2-2 Denmark
45+3 mins: As Holland prepare to take a throw-in deep in their own half, the whistle blows, and an excellent opening period is at an end.
The Dutch have conceded more goals in the first 45 minutes of the #WEURO2017 final than they did in the other 7.5 hours of this tournament.
— Simon Gleave (@SimonGleave) August 6, 2017
45+1 mins: Into stoppage time, of which there will be around two minutes.
45 mins: Nadim is booked for her furious reaction to the award of a free-kick against her, for pulling Van der Gragt. For what it’s worth, I agree with her.
44 mins: Harder has a pop from a 30-yard free-kick, but the ball curls high.
41 mins: Ooooh! A lovely cross from the right finds Nadim at the far post, who isn’t sure whether to go for the ball with her head, her left foot or her right foot. She picks the right foot, which should really have been the third choice, misses it completely, and is anyway offside.
39 mins: Denmark’s equaliser was excellent. There’s something about a stationary goalkeeper that adds a little je ne sais quoi to a goal, I think.
Oof, what a goal 🔥
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) August 6, 2017
And what a game 🙌
The Women's Euro 2017 final just gets better and better#WEURO2017 #NEDDEN pic.twitter.com/LRh6DNInxR
35 mins: Another chink of light for Denmark: a long, high pass from the half-way line bounces through to Veje inside the area, but her first-time left-foot effort is hurried and weak. Desiree van Lunteren, the defender doing the hurrying, catches her studs in the turf in the process and needs some treatment.
GOAL! Holland 2-2 Denmark (Harder, 33mins)
The goals keep coming! Harder is just inside her own half when the ball is played down the right, and the Dutch defence trail in her wake with their arms in the air, hoping for a flag. There is none, and Harder catches up with the ball, cuts into the area and hits a hard, low, left-foot shot that goes in at the near post!
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31 mins: Chance for Denmark! The ball is poked through to Nadim who for a moment is clear on goal, but Van Veenendaal is out super-fast and upon the striker before she knows what she’s doing. She has a half-hearted go at rounding the keeper, but Van Veenendaal pushes the ball away.
30 mins: That was way too easy. The ball was played to Van de Sanden on the right, back I think to Groenen and inside to Martens, without any defender exerting any pressure.
GOAL! Holland 2-1 Denmark (Martens, 28 mins)
A goal from nothing! The ball is passed to Martens, a few yards outside the D, and she checks onto her left foot, runs a couple of yards and shoots. There’s not a lot of pace on the shot, but it ends up creeping just inside the post, bouncing just in front of Petersen and over her grasping hands!
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25 mins: A break while Van Es is treated by physios, but the pace has dropped a little - after a whirlwind start - in the last few minutes.
21 mins: A yellow card for Holland’s Jackie Groenen, who is cleverly beaten by Katrine Veje on Denmark’s left flank and slides in late.
19 mins: Pemille Harder tricks her way past her marker on the left flank and slides the ball across goal, but no Dane has anticipated it, and the ball is cleared.
17 mins: Save! Van de Sanden crosses low from the right, and it flicks off a defender’s boot to Lieke Martens, whose shot is heading in at the near post until Petersen gets a hand to it.
16 mins: Holland win a free kick 40 yards from goal and Sherida Spitse, seing Stina Lykke Petersen anticipating a cross, tries a shot. She can’t get enough pace on the shot, though.
15 mins: What a start to this game, though. Both teams attacking in numbers and at pace. Wingers with pace and skill. Goals flying in. Yum.
12 mins: Sandvej is in for a tough afternoon, if that move is anything to go by. Van de Sanden is fast. Sandvej is, well, less fast.
GOAL! Holland 1-1 Denmark (Miedama, 10 mins)
The equaliser! Shanice van de Sanden is lightning down the right, and Sandvej can’t keep up! She sprints down the line, cuts into the area and slides the ball across goal for Vivianne Miedema to convert what is, by then, an easy chance!
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8 mins: Nadim has another shot, but this one is from 23 yards and is also rubbish, and bobbles wide. They’ve only had possession inside the Dutch area once, and they made it count.
GOAL! Holland 0-1 Denmark (Nadim, 6mins)
Nadia Nadim strokes the ball to her left, and though Van Veenendaal goes the right way the penalty is too good, and nestles in the corner!
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Penalty to Denmark!
Troelsgaard picks up a loose ball inside the penalty area, and Kika van Es flicks out a foot in an attempt to get the same ball, gets there second and takes only leg!
4 min: Then Martens sprints down the left flank, but she takes on Theresa Nielsen, fails to get past her and runs out of pitch. Goal kick;
2 mins: The Dutch start well, and eventually work the ball into the area, but Cecilie Sandvej does excellently to track Jackie Groenen’s run, take the ball off her toes, and then pass it to a team-mate in midfield.
1 min: Peeeeeep! They’re off! Denmark, clad all in white, get the final started.
This, I’m told, is how the teams will line up, the Dutch in 4-3-3 formation and the Danish in trusty 4-4-2:
Once titular y formación de @oranjevrouwen 🇳🇱
— UEFA.com en español (@UEFAcom_es) August 6, 2017
Siga la final del #WEURO2017 👉 https://t.co/QfmQwUnMwr#NEDDEN pic.twitter.com/qRHZpEq7xG
Once titular y formación de @DBUfodbold 🇩🇰
— UEFA.com en español (@UEFAcom_es) August 6, 2017
Siga la final del #WEURO2017 👉 https://t.co/QfmQwUnMwr#NEDDEN pic.twitter.com/BTw6wjvGAH
The teams are out, and the anthems being played. Enschede is a sea of orange.
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Marco van Basten and Louis van Gaal are in the audience, two members of Dutch football royalty. The trophy is brought out and dispayed to the crowd before kick-off by Pierre van Hooijdonk, wearing a very snazzy metallic silver jacket.
There’s something about the combination of massed ranks of orange shirts and sunshine that makes me feel that all summer tournaments should probably be hosted by Holland.
“It’s going to be exciting, but in the end we’re going to win,” says Nils Nielsen, the Denmark coach.
I really like this trophy. Unusual and elegant (but when placed on grass rather than plinth it does look like a weird quicksilver arm reaching out of the earth in a creepy and threatening manner).
So far as I can tell, this basically means: good luck. The hope that the “bedste team vinder” doesn’t really require translation.
God fornoejelse med kampen @larsloekke Rasmussen. #NEDDEN Lad os haabe, at det bedste team vinder. Held og lykke @oranjevrouwen! #WEURO2017
— Minister-president (@MinPres) August 6, 2017
Channel 4’s coverage starts, and Clare Balding is wearing orange. What happened to impartiality?
So here we are then. After three weeks of fun and games, either Holland or Denmark will record their first European Championship victory in Entschede. There is a sell-out crowd expected at FC Twente’s stadium.
Team news!
Holland: van Veenendaal, van Lunteren, Dekker, Van der Gragt, van Es, Groenen, van de Donk, Spitse, van de Sanden, Miedema, Martens
Subs: van den Berg, Roord, Jansen, Folkertsma, Christ, Zeeman, Lewirissa, van den Bulk, Janssen, Beerensteyn, van der Most, Geurts
Denmark: Petersen, Nielsen, Sorensen, Larsen, Sandvej, T Nielsen, Kildemoes, Pedersen, Veje, Harder, Nadim
Subs: Hansen, Christiansen, Sorensen, Thogersen, Christensen, Pedersen, Hansen, Johansen, Gewitz
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