Netherlands coach Mark Parsons admits prognosis ‘not great’ for injured duo

Netherlands coach Mark Parsons revealed the prognosis is “not great” for injured duo Sari van Veenendaal and Aniek Nouwen after what could be a costly opening draw with Sweden at Euro 2022.

Goalkeeper Van Veenendaal failed to shake off the effects of an early collision which also injured team-mate Stefanie van der Gragt, and had to be replaced by the inexperienced Daphne van Domselaar, while Nouwen was also forced off before half-time.

Parsons’ remarks after the match suggested both players may struggle to play much more of a part in the tournament.

“Not great is the only thing I can say,” he said on UEFA’s website. “You’ve got two players in tears who are very proud of what the team did.”

The Oranje trailed at the break to Jonna Andersson’s goal but overcame the adversity thanks to Jill Roord’s equaliser early in the second half.

Parsons said: “First half, I think it was tough. The spaces were big so it meant Viv (Miedema) and others had to make too much running. I was pretty disappointed with the goal.

“Second half was better, and there’s more to come.”

Van Domselaar overcame a shaky start to make a crucial late save from Fridolina Rolfo and, along with Van der Gragt, drew praise from Miedema, who was instrumental in the build-up to Roord’s goal and was later named player of the match.

“I’m so pleased,” said the Arsenal forward. “There were a lot of emotions at half-time.

“I don’t know how Steph played 90 minutes. That feeling creates a togetherness, and (Van Domselaar and fellow substitute Marisa Olislagers) played the games of their lives.”

Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson was unsure whether the result represented two points lost or one gained after his side’s first-half dominance.

“Somewhere between,” he told uefa.com. “The feelings are always disappointment when you don’t win.

“They go a lot with two strikers and if you play with three centre-backs it becomes a little easier to come away from that. We forced them to play a lot of long balls.

“We had just one problem left, Miedema, she is so skilful, we had to double up on her. That was also something we needed three centre-backs for. But you can’t keep her away for 90 minutes and she did a fantastic thing (to create the equaliser).”