Daniëlle van de Donk of the Dutch National Team (Photo by Asif Burhan).
Asif Burhan speaks with Daniëlle van de Donk of the Dutch national team after they pulled out a win over Denmark 1-0 in Group A of the 2017 Women’s Euro Cup.
You obviously played very well in the first half, what do you think changed at half time and why do you think Denmark were so close?
They needed to score a goal and they went fully on the attack and I think they actually put someone on the front more. I think we were sloppy sometimes and we gave them the ball again. I think they main thing they just started kicking the ball long. We are pretty shit sometimes.
Now you’ve won the first two games but you’re not yet through, how do you approach that third game?
Yeah definitely, we’re going for the win, we always do. If we drew, that’s fine, that’s good enough, but we’re definitely not going to lose.
Can you just explain what the last four days have been like for you and the team? You’ve got a lot of coverage over here and back home after your opening win. Was it something you really expected?
To be fair, I’m not really on the internet or on the television or social media either. I kind of lock myself out of that world. Everyone’s saying it’s really buzzing, it’s really been amazing. It’s really big, everything. I think it’s good for the Netherlands and for women’s football. At the moment I just want to be focused on the tournament and not really think about that.
You might have already answered this question but did you watch England last night and have you been in touch with your team-mates?
From Arsenal? Yeah definitely, we all send each other a good luck. We watch each other because we don’t play on the same day so. Yeah, we do keep in touch yeah.
Were you slightly surprised they scored six?
No, because we played Scotland before. Yeah, England they’re amazing actually. I actually thought they were going to score loads of goals and so they did. Really good goals. I’m proud of them all.
And maybe you will play them in the semi-final?
Yeah, maybe. That’s fine by me.
Good luck for the rest of the tournament.
