Dutch soccer players will start the World Cup in New Zealand and Australia next summer with a match against Portugal. The women, ranked 22nd in the world, defeated lower seed Cameroon in the final, 2-1. The Orange’s opening match is on July 23 in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Portugal’s victory over Cameroon, ranked 58th in the world, is due to a penalty kick taken in stoppage time. Carol Costa led Portugal to their first World Cup finals appearance. Cameroon equalized in the 89th minute, but that did not come from extra time. Portugal had already taken the lead in the 22nd minute through Diana Gomez.
The United States (on July 27) and Vietnam (August 1) are the other two footballers’ opponents in Group E of the World Cup. National coach Anders Junker’s team plays all group matches in New Zealand, which is organizing the tournament with Australia. Orange beat Portugal 3-2 in the European Championships in the group stage last year. Then the Portuguese quickly took a 2-0 lead, but Portugal came back with a score of 2-2. Daniel van de Donk hit the winning goal in the second half.
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