WELLINGTON: A second-half goal from co-captain Lindsey Horan allowed the United States to battle back for a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in a thrilling Women’s World Cup Group E match on Thursday (Jul 27).
The fiercely fought re-run of the 2019 final lived up to its billing as the Dutch enjoyed the ascendancy in the first half before hanging on when the Americans found their groove in the second.
The Dutch struck first through a fine shot from midfielder Jill Roord in the 17th minute and the US went in at half-time trailing in a World Cup match for the first time since 2011.
Horan answered for the four-times champions from a Rose Lavelle corner in 62nd minute, making a great run to the near post to power an unstoppable header past Dutch goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar.
The Americans had not drawn a World Cup match since 2015 and will rue a slow start to the game as well as an inability to take their chances at the end.
“Even though it didn’t finish the way we wanted (it) to finish I thought it was a good match for our team,” said US coach Vlatko Andonovski.
“What you saw in the second half is what you’re going to see going forward as a baseline.”
The US remain top of Group E on goal difference from the Dutch heading into their final match against Portugal next Tuesday, but the Netherlands will be confident of erasing that advantage when they take on Vietnam at the same time.
“These games are battles from the first second to the last … the only thing you can say is women’s football has evolved a lot,” said Netherlands coach Andries Jonker.
“Before the match I didn’t want a draw – we wanted to win. But after the second half, that’s what we wanted because the US were really strong.”
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