Extra Time: Two World Cup Champs Aren’t Scared of the Dutch
This story first appeared in Extra Time, our pop-up newsletter about the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Get it in your inbox by subscribing here.
Holland day
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]So, two-time World Cup champion Christen Press, what scares you about the Netherlands, America’s second-round opponent at this 2023 World Cup? The U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) will face the Orange Lionesses tonight at 9 p.m. E.T. in New Zealand’s capital city of Wellington.
Press, who won titles in 2015 and 2019 as a forward for the U.S. but recently underwent a fourth surgery to repair the knee preventing her from playing in this World Cup, is mildly offended by this question. “As soon as you say, ‘What scares you,’ I took that as a player,” Press says. “And I’m like, ‘Nothing scares me.” Press, 34, laughs. “OK, go ahead, Tobin …”
As in Tobin Heath, who’s also on this call—and was also on the 2015 and 2019 USWNT World Cup teams (in addition to the 2011 one)—and has also won a pair of World Cup titles, in 2015 and 2019 with the USWNT. Like Press, Heath, 35, has been sidelined due to injury. So I called on the duo—who are among the founders of the lifestyle brand RE-INC, often finish each other’s sentences, and are co-hosting an excellent podcast and YouTube program during the World Cup called The RE-CAP Show—to break down the U.S.-Netherlands matchup.
Heath agrees with Press. She doesn’t find the Dutch all that frightening. “The Dutch are a good team,” says Heath. “They’re not a great team in this tournament.” Heath concedes that the Dutch are the best team in the USWNT’s group, which also includes Vietnam—whom the U.S. defeated 3-0 on Friday in the World Cup opener—and Portugal. “Outside of us,” Press chimes in.
“Outside of us, yes,” says Heath.
Yes, U.S.-Netherlands is a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final. But Heath cautions against reading too much into that. “There were a ton of better teams we played in 2019,” says Heath. She and Press point to games against Spain in the Round of 16, France—in France—in the quarters, and England in the semis as much tougher tests. The U.S. won those games 2-1, but shut out the Netherlands, 2-0, in the title game. “We always say our final was one of the easier games for us,” says Heath.
What’s more, the Dutch—who beat Portugal 1-0 in their World Cup opener—are down a superstar. Vivianne Miedema, the country’s all-time leading goal scorer, is missing this World Cup due to an ACL tear. “We don’t have to significantly adjust what we’re doing in order to take care of an individual player,” says Heath. “I don’t think they can do much damage to us.”
The one Netherlands player Heath mentioned in our conversation as a threat to watch—striker Lineth Beerensteyn—is now unlikely to play, because of an ankle injury she suffered against Portugal. Heath notes that the Dutch have a solid aerial presence off set pieces. And the Orange Lionesses could exploit the tendency of U.S. outside defenders Crystal Dunn and Emily Fox to play “inverted” positions—meaning they sometimes serve more as midfielders, moving into more centralized spaces on the pitch, getting involved in short passes on the attack. That strategy can leave the U.S. defense susceptible to Dutch counterattacks out wide. “You are leaving a big area to exploit,” says Heath.
Still, the former USWNT players aren’t all that worried. If anything, this is a huge opportunity for the Americans to make a statement. Germany made its mark, with a 6-0 crushing of Morocco. Brazil cast itself a real threat, with its 4-0 opening game victory over Panama. Spain beat Zambia 5-0 on Tuesday. “There’s a few teams that are like, we’re here,” says Heath. “We didn’t have that game against Vietnam. We can have that game against the Netherlands, if we want. I don’t see there being any reason why we can’t.”
The Philippines scene
Group A is a bit of a glorious mess. Norway was supposed to cruise to a spot in the knockout round. Instead, the Norwegians sit at the bottom of the standings through two matches, and two teams who had never before won a World Cup game—the Philippines and New Zealand—have surprising chances to advance.
After New Zealand upset Norway, 1-0, in its opener, the Philippines picked up three points on Tuesday by knocking off the Football Ferns 1-0 on their home soil. The Philippines became the first World Cup debutante at this tournament to secure a win. In the 24th minute, Sarina Bolden leaped over and between a pair of New Zealanders in the six-yard box to head in a goal and give the Philippines the advantage. In the second half, Jacqui Hand of New Zealand appeared to equalize on a header of her own, but a full video assistant referee (VAR) review found that Hannah Wilkinson was slightly offside earlier in the attack, negating the goal and demoralizing the Wellington crowd.
Bolden, like 17 of her teammates on the Philippines roster, was born in the U.S. Her mother, Sherry, was born in the Philippines and moved to the U.S. with her family when she was 3. Bolden, 27, was born in Santa Clara, Calif., and played soccer at Loyola Marymount University. She’s played professionally in Sweden, Taiwan, the U.S., Japan, and now in Australia, for the appropriately named—given Bolden’s resume—Western Sydney Wanderers.
Philippines keeper Olivia Davies-McDaniel was named player of the match. Her quick-reflex save in second-half stoppage time preserved the win. She was born in Laguna Beach, Calif. After the match, a reporter asked Davies-McDaniel what Filipino word best described the team’s win.
“Puso,” he replied. Heart.
On June 30, the Philippines can move on to the knockout stage with a win over Norway. Bolden scored her goal on a cross from Sara Eggesvik, whose mother is Filipino. Eggesvik was born in the town of Bodø. In Norway.
D.C. drinks
USWNT watch parties at a watering hole near you were up and running for the opener against Vietnam last Friday night. The workweek isn’t stopping the fun: U.S. Soccer has compiled a helpful map of all the places around the country where you can check out tonight’s game against the Netherlands.
Last Friday the Washington Spirit of the NWSL—the pro club team of USWNT players Trinity Rodman, Andi Sullivan, Ashley Sanchez, and Aubrey Kingsbury—sponsored a watch party at The Bullpen, an outdoor venue across the street from Nationals Park in D.C. Sources close to Extra Time shared that during the game Spirits owner Michele Kang bought a spontaneous round for all the revelers. Her tab reached five digits.
Asked if Kang would splurge again for the Netherlands game, a Spirit rep said, “it will likely be a last-minute decision.”
On the D.C. Metro, the Green line gets you to the Bullpen. Navy Yard-Ballpark station. Tell Ms. Kang that Extra Time sent you.
Who gets their kicks?
After the U.S.-Vietnam game, I asked readers to weigh in on my proposal that soccer players who do the hard work of drawing a foul should have first dibs on taking the penalty shot. Last week Trinity Rodman drew a penalty and appeared eager to notch her first World Cup goal. Instead, Alex Morgan took the shot and failed to convert.
“Rodman should have taken the penalty!!!” read the email subject line from reader Jane Laitman, from Westfield, N.J. “100% YES TO THIS!!!I can’t stand when someone else steps up!!!”
(Full disclosure: Laitman is my sister-in-law. But she’d totally tell me if I was full of it.)
“Involving penalty kicks, I think that the player who received the foul should be able to make the penalty kick,” wrote John Speight of Maryland. “Brightness throughout your gentle days and nights.” (You rock, John.)
“Back in my coaching days (grade school to ninth grade kids), at the end of every practice, every player took three or four PK’s,” wrote Rose Stepnick, who splits her time between Milton, Del., and Windsor, Conn. “They all stood in line waiting for the opportunity to be the player selected in a game. At the end of every practice they chose who represented the team at the mark. That made my job easier … The team made a team decision for their own benefit.”
“As professionals, I think teams still want the most skilled person doing the position and tasks needed: corners, goalie, indirect kicks, everything that is a set play today.”
Hard to argue against that logic, for both kids and the World Cup players. Thanks, Rose.
Recommended reading
Americans are traveling to the World Cup in droves. “The number of Americans who flocked here to watch the U.S. women’s soccer team try to three-peat as champions dwarfs the number from any other visiting nation—by about 10-to-1.” (WSJ)
The Philippines isn’t the only side counting on American dual nationals. (Stars and Stripes FC)
“Think your kids have had a busy summer? Sorry, Phair has them beat.” On Casey Phair, the rising high school sophomore who on Monday night became the youngest player to ever appear in a World Cup game, when she entered the game for South Korea as a second-half sub vs Colombia. (NJ.com)
Brazil did indeed score the most incredible goal of the Women’s World Cup so far. (SBNation)
Hoboken, N.J., voted to let bars open at 5 a.m. for World Cup viewing (close your eyes to avoid a disgusting second part of the headline). (Hudson County View)
Parting thought
Since they’ve played in past tournaments, I asked Heath and Press what it’s like for players at the World Cup between games. The U.S. did travel from Auckland to Wellington in the five days between its matchups against Vietnam and the Netherlands. Still, that’s plenty of downtime.
Enough to make you go stir-crazy?
“It’s almost like surrealism,” says Press. “The days are a little gray and foggy. You almost can’t remember. You’re very careful with when you look at your phone and who you even connect with. Or how much you walk. Your whole life is bubble-wrapped. Every second of the day. And then you have to go out and do this incredibly physical and risky and hard and emotionally draining thing. And then you just are bubble-wrapped again.”
“We sit around and talk and try to get a little bit of relief. It’s this incredibly difficult experience to explain. You’re with the only people in the world that get it. And that creates a bond with every single player I’ve played with in a world championship that’s unlike any other. Because there’s this respect. There’s this knowingness. You don’t even have to say anything and you know what’s going on with your teammates.”
“We eat too many meals. We’re really just trying to fuel, fuel, fuel. And we talk and we laugh and we make it to the next game.”