Miedema’s 100th goal fires Dutch to victory vs Wales; Germany win

Vivianne Miedema scored her 100th international goal to send the Netherlands on their way to a 3-0 win over Wales in their Group D opener at the Women’s European Championship at the Allmend Stadion in Lucerne on Saturday.

Wales came into their debut match at a major tournament as underdogs against the 2017 champions and, after frustrating the Dutch for long periods of the opening half, Miedema’s milestone strike before the break ended the Welsh resistance.

The Welsh were pinned back in their own half for long stretches, often making things difficult for themselves with some wayward passing but also regularly putting their bodies on the line in the box to block the constant Dutch danger.

Jill Roord hit two powerful efforts in the first half, one saved by Wales keeper Olivia Clark, the other thundering back off the upright, while the Welsh intent was underlined by Lily Woodham picking up a booking inside 25 minutes for time-wasting.

Wales looked like hanging on until the interval but, deep into added time, Miedema struck a curling shot from outside the area which sailed into the far top corner, a goal worthy of the captain’s milestone in her 126th international appearance.

The Dutch doubled their lead less than three minutes after the break, with Danielle van de Donk laying a pass back to Victoria Pelova in the box who blasted a shot through the legs of defender Gemma Evans and beyond the keeper.

Roord again hit the woodwork, as the Netherlands almost added a third immediately, and they did find the net again in the 57th minute.

Jackie Groenen’s shot rattled the crossbar and, from the rebound, Pelova floated a ball to the back post which was finished off by Esmee Brugts. The Dutch threatened to run riot but despite plenty of chances were unable to add to their tally.

In arguably the toughest group in the competition, holders England face France later on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Gwinn will miss the rest of Euro 2025 after suffering a knee injury during her team’s opening win against Poland, the German football federation (DFB) announced on Saturday.

“The captain of the German women’s national team suffered an ligament injury in her left knee in the team’s opening match against Poland on Friday,” said the DFB in a statement on their website.

“She (Gwinn) is expected to be out for several weeks.”

Earlier, Germany made a winning start to their Women’s Euro 2025 campaign with Friday’s 2-0 win over Poland which moved the eight-time continental champions top of Group C.

Christian Wueck’s side lead Sweden, 1-0 winners in a Scandinavian derby with Denmark, on goal difference after coming through a hard-fought group opener in St Gallen thanks to goals in the second half from Jule Brand and Lea Schueller.

Germany are one of three big contenders for overall victory in Switzerland alongside world champions Spain and holders England.

But the “Frauenteam” were far from their best for most of the match, with Wueck frequently bellowing at his charges to up their game.

And they lost captain Giulia Gwinn to what looked like a knee injury before half-time following a nasty fall in a challenge with Ewa Pajor.

“She’s injured her knee and will undergo an MRI tomorrow, at which point we’ll know what’s happened,” said Wueck.

“It was a tough, hard-fought victory. Poland made it very, very difficult for us with their style of play... We’re happy with the result and we know that we can do better.”

Germany had won all six previous encounters with Poland but the game was even until Brand cut inside and unleashed an unstoppable shot six minutes after half-time.

And Brand was on hand in the 66th minute with a perfect cross for Bayern Munich striker Schueller, who made sure of the points with a simple header.

Germany have now won six matches on the bounce, scoring 26 goals in that run, but looked some way below the standard shown by tournament favourites Spain on Thursday, with England facing France on Saturday.

Agencies