Paris — There are those looping passes in rugby. The piercing ones sent to the winger for a breakaway try down the touchline. Or a golfer’s low iron behind a tree which curves and hurtles low to the green instead of laying up. And then there is Renee van Laarhoven’s 45 metre crash ball which set up the Netherlands’ first goal for Luna Fokke’s equally fine finish on Wednesday afternoon.
From defence to attacking goal in seconds, all witnessed by a sea of orange which has descended upon the Yves-du-Manoir stadium in the last few days. They saw the Netherlands, in front of almost home support, run out comfortable 3-0 winners against a lacklustre Argentina in a repeat of the Tokyo final.
They will face China on Friday evening, 24 hours after the Dutch men bid for a first major title in 24 years. Double Olympic gold remains on the cards following the Dutch women’s stroll into their fourth final in five editions.
It followed a superb crash ball move and individual brilliance from Fokke — Dutch GK Anne Veenendaal called it an “insane ball” — a rare international goal from Laura Nunnink and an inevitable penalty corner strike by Yibbi Jansen, her eighth of the tournament. Paul van Ass picked nine Olympic debutants for Paris. You would never have guessed.
All this came after a nasty injury to Joosje Burg, playing her 50th international, following an innocuous stick tackle with Agustina Gorzelany which saw the ball lift into her face. She left the field with blood dripping from the top of her nose with two minutes left of the first quarter. An eerie silence took hold with Frédérique Matla visibly upset. She then returned to the field early in the second half to warm-up with a new shirt and taped number.
By then, the Dutch were two-up after Argentina had failed to offer a single shot and circle penetration in the opening 30 minutes.
While the mesmeric Dutch goal from the 2022 World Cup final against Las Leonas lives long in the memory, the crash ball from deep by Van Laarhoven, which fizzed up the sidelines past several Argentinians and into the path of Fokke was either a hit to clear danger or mesmeric vision. Fokke trapped first time from the hard hit down the sidelines, almost from 23m to 23m, ran into the circle and finished brilliantly on the backhand.
“I had a lot of pressure in the corner and I tried to look a bit,” Van Laarhoven said afterwards. “I saw something orange and in those corners you can lose a lot and you can win by sometimes going opportunistic. I hit it quite hard and I am very happy Luna stopped it and finished it perfectly. Nobody is going to talk about this goal if she doesn’t make it. I am really grateful for that!
“I did look and saw her for one second. You do need to reach her and there were three Argentina players. There was a little bounce and it was hard enough.”
Five minutes later, Fokke turned provider, crossing from the left to Nunnink who scored her first goal at a major tournament and only her third senior goal.
In the third quarter, with Burg back on the bench, Argentina upped the ante with possession and some intent. But they looked devoid of ideas in front of an impregnable defence.
You could see Veenendaal outstretching her arms and stick thudding her glove with glee after first her defence charged down one penalty corner and then she saved clinically from a dangerous cross.
Cristina Cosentino did well to save from Jansen and then a Maria Verschoor rebound, while Veenendaal did the same on an Argentinian counter. With nine minutes left, this game looked done and dusted, the atmosphere sucked away by Dutch dominance.
Friday’s final will be the Netherlands’ sixth Olympic women’s final in a row.
Talking Tactics: Dutch control from deep
We had a lot of ball possession and they didn’t press a lot and we could really keep the ball going. After the first goal we got a lot of energy. It felt quite controlled but what I do know is that Argentina can score a goal from nowhere so we had to stay focused. We really talk about having a lot of depth in the game. It really helps us as defenders if you have that opportunity to hit or throw it and find the space behind their defence. We discussed it before and saw there was space. With the speed we have up front, we can make it into a big chance.
Renee van Laarhoven
