August 4 – Hosts the Netherlands sent England crashing out of Euro 2017 in the semi-finals with a 3-0 victory. In the final they face Denmark, who eliminated Austria after a penalty shoot out.
The Lionesses were the favourites in their semi-final encounter with Holland, but they failed to live up to their tag. England failed to take their chances, at times lacked a cutting edge as they too often played the ball long, while losing goals through individual errors.
The Dutch were spurred on by a record crowd of 27,093 at De Grolsch Veste in Enschede. When they had the ball Holland played possession football, with Danielle van de Donk pulling the strings in the midfield. Vivianne Miedema’s first-half header, van de Donk’s tap-in and Lieke Martens’ deflected shot were enough to dispatch England.
“Over the course of the tournament, we have been one of the of best teams here,” said England coach Mark Sampson. “But, in tournament football, small things can make a big difference.”
“I made some mistakes, for sure. I’ll go away and reflect. I’ll look at it all and then do a better job next time.”
The Dutch will now be favorites to beat Denmark in their first European Championship final. The Danish had to labour hard to get victory against a stubborn Austrian side in Breda. They required extra-time and penalties after a goalless 90 minutes.
In the first half Austria’s Sarah Puntigam missed a penalty. Denmark, however, dominated throughout, showing the most attacking intent, but they couldn’t breach the Austrian wall.
In the shoot-out Danish goalkeeper Stina Lykke Petersen took the plaudits, making two saves to deny Austria and send Denmark on its way to the final.
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