Vivianne Miedema nets landmark goal as Wales lose Euro opener to Netherlands
After Jill Roord's shot had hit the woodwork, Wales' solid defensive line was eventually breached when Miedema clipped home a fine dipping effort in stoppage time at the end of the first half to bring up her century in style.
⏰ FT | 🏴 0-3 🇳🇱
Defeat in our opening game at #WEURO2025 in Lucerne.
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) July 5, 2025
Victoria Pelova then struck from close range just three minutes into the second half before Esmee Brugts added a third to put the result beyond Rhian Wilkinson's side, who next play France in St Gallen on Wednesday.
Despite being pushed deep for long spells, Wales – with Esther Morgan handed a surprise start in a back three – had held their own as the Netherlands struggled to break them down in the final third ahead of the first drinks break.
Wales, cheered on by around 3,800 supporters, were again well organised when play continued as the Dutch, who were European champions in 2017, looked to find a cutting edge to all of their possession.
Cymru yn creu hanes 🏴
First Women's EURO game ✅#WEURO2025 pic.twitter.com/76RQg5tRyn
— UEFA Women's EURO 2025 (@WEURO2025) July 5, 2025
The Netherlands, though, were soon within inches of taking the lead in the 35th minute.
Rhiannon Roberts headed out a long pass which had been launched towards the Wales penalty area. The ball dropped out to Roord, who took a touch before sending a 20-yard drive flying past Wales keeper Olivia Clark but her strike came back off the post.
Wales created a decent opening late in the first half when Jess Fishlock laid the the ball off to Lily Woodham, only for her shot to fly over.
The Netherlands then broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time through a brilliant finish from Miedema.
Historical. 🇳🇱💯#NothingLikeOranje pic.twitter.com/6jNY8C268I
— OranjeLeeuwinnen (@oranjevrouwen) July 5, 2025
There looked little on for the Manchester City forward when she collected the ball on the left just outside the Wales penalty area, before then switching back inside to clip a fine effort up over Clark and into the far corner.
Wales fell further behind three minutes after the restart when Danielle van de Donk latched on to a long ball and had the time to pick out Pelova, who fired home from inside the six-yard box.
Former Manchester City midfielder Roord then saw another shot crash back off the bar before the Netherlands did get a third goal in the 57th minute.
⚽️ Pelova (48')⚽️ Brugts (57')
🇳🇱 @oranjevrouwen's second half… 🥵#WEURO2025 pic.twitter.com/uREXim5KOq
— UEFA Women's EURO 2025 (@WEURO2025) July 5, 2025
Jackie Groenen's long-range strike rattled the crossbar again and after Wales failed to clear the danger, Brugts volleyed in a deep cross at the back post.
Wales head coach Wilkinson looked to minimise further damage by making some substitutions going into the last 25 minutes, sending on Ffion Morgan, Kayleigh Barton and Rachel Rowe to replace Fishlock, Hannah Cain and Josie Green.
Clark was out quickly to make a brave stop at the feet of Lineth Beerensteyn as she raced clear on goal before the Netherlands substitute then saw her late angled strike ruled out for offside.
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BBC News
9 minutes ago
- BBC News
Sylvia Gore - A football pioneer in England and Wales
If she were still alive, Sylvia Gore would no doubt have looked on proudly when England and Wales face each other at Euro in football for over 60 years, Gore has been described as a pioneer and a champion of the game and referred to as the 'Denis Law of women's football'.Gore scored the first official goal for England 's women's side in 1972, who were a far cry from the current Lionesses, the reigning European champions and World Cup Gore also made a significant contribution to the development of the women's game in Wales, managing the national side for over 10 was a big part of Gore's life from an early in Prescot on Merseyside, Gore remembered how she began kicking a ball as a three-year-old and on starting school would practise with the boys, but was not allowed to play in games. She started playing for Manchester Corinthians aged 12 in the late 1950s, travelling overseas, where the team played in front of big played at the time when the women's game was prohibited by the Football Association, with a ban in place since Football Association (FA) reasoning was that football was "quite unsuitable for females" and should "not be encouraged".The FA lifted its 50-year ban in 1971 and a year later the first official England women's side would play their first game."There were over 500 players that came to trials and it was whittled down to 25 in the end," Gore recalled in a 2015 interview for the BBC's Sporting Witness."I think I went to four trials and it was a tremendous feeling to get a letter to say you were in the England squad after all those trials."England's first match against Scotland in November 1972 – 100 years since the first men's international between the countries – was played at Greenock's Ravenscraig Stadium. "The crowd was about 400-500 if I remember rightly, which we thought was a good crowd then," Gore said."The conditions were terrible. It was hard ground – frosty, icy."[It] shouldn't have gone ahead but obviously because we had travelled so far and the Scots wanted to play it... We wanted to play it because it was the first official international for the FA."We were two goals down at half-time and we had to step up a gear."Step up a gear they did and Gore went on an individual run which saw her cut through Scotland's defence before coolly slotting home to score England's first official goal."I was delighted, I was jumping in the air and everyone was diving on me," Gore was the start of a comeback which saw England win 3-2 but significantly it was the start of a new era for women's football in the British Isles. Gore once scored 134 goals in one season and played for renowned works team Fodens Ladies as well as north Wales-based Prestatyn, a side formed by sisters Mai and Eleri Griffith."I actually played against Sylvia when she played for England in about 1974 in Slough," recalls Michele Ward, who played in Wales' first unofficial international in 1973."We got beaten but what I do remember, it was sponsored by an egg company and at the end of games we would get presents from the other team."It was a plastic container with the English FA crest on it full of bath salts and half a dozen eggs."After retiring from playing at the age of 36 due to injury, Gore embarked on a coaching career, with Prescot Ladies - a team she founded - and then as Wales national team manager."One of the main volunteers at the item was Ida Driscoll and how she got hold of Sylvia I don't really know to be honest," Michele Adams said."Whether people in north Wales put her in touch, quite possibly."She took the burden on at its weakest because up until then they had this little committee with people from Newport and Port Talbot." Wales Women's International Football, who ran the national team and was chaired by Ida Driscoll, turned to the woman who seven years earlier scored England's first goal in an insisted that being a non-Welsh manager was not a big deal, pointing out that the manager of the senior Wales men's team at the time, Mike Smith, was also English and "not doing too bad a job"."I've said it's impossible to expect miracles," she said at the time of her appointment in February 1979."But it's a challenge. It's an opportunity and I am going to make something of it."I wouldn't have missed this chance for the world. It's something I've always wanted and I will do my utmost to make it work." Her first training session with Wales' 18-strong squad was on the morning of her first game in charge, against France in Bordeaux, following a 24-hour overland lost 6-0 in France and a 7-0 defeat later that year against hosts Italy - a semi-professional side - in the Women's World Invitational Tournament was a stark reminder of how much catching up there was to had been appointed by Wales on an initial 12-month basis, but she would remain in charge for over 10 years and her enthusiasm for the role - despite a lack of resources - remained steadfast."It's hard work but I enjoy every minute of it," Gore told the Liverpool Echo in 1989."Unfortunately we haven't enough clubs in Wales to form a proper association, which might help to attract sponsors, so we have to pay all our own expenses."Players not only had to pay their travelling expenses, they even had to pay for their own would also make substantial financial contributions from her own pocket."When Sylvia came in we used to train one weekend in north Wales and the following weekend down in south Wales," Adams added."That would happen quite regularly over a six-week period."If we had an international away somewhere we were billeted in people's houses, not hotels."Wales had faced the Republic of Ireland at Llanelli's Stebonheath Park in their first game in 1973 but were not affiliated with the Football Association of Wales at the time. Numerous attempts had been made in the preceding decades to get recognition, which had met with firm opposition and downright hostility from some Football Association of Wales (FAW) councillors."We have to remember that neither the Welsh or English FA were particularly organised in running women's football until much, much later," said The Guardian's women's football writer Tom Garry."Particularly in the 70s and 80s and into the early 90s, running women's football was a bit akin to how you might imagine a local sports community club is run in towns and villages across the country."Many people who spent time with Sylvia have always described how there was this sort of desire to help other teams develop."Knowledge-sharing was very common in those days, clubs wanting to help each other out and local FAs and local football groups wanting to help each other out. Sylvia epitomised that really, because a lot of different clubs benefited from the knowledge that she was able to share." As Wales manager, Gore - who also coached Deeside Ladies in north Wales - essentially had a pool of less than 30 players to choose from, significantly fewer than attempted to expand Wales' squad by identifying players with Welsh family backgrounds, sending letters to women's leagues throughout the UK enquiring about eligible players."We started getting players in with Welsh heritage, about three or four players from England like Ann Rice and Gaynor Jones," Adams remembers."We had quite a few like that who came in."At a time when women's football was reliant on the goodwill of volunteers and sponsors, Gore did much to raise standards."There was an appreciation of the professionalism that she brought to what was actually a very unprofessional job," Garry added."Sylvia was someone who knew what they were doing and had the best intentions of a team at heart, even if there perhaps wasn't the resource for them to go and be competitive on the wider international stage." But there were signs of was encouraged that FAW official Malcolm Stammers attended an international against England at Prescot Cables in April 1989 and presented the squad with a new kit."The big thing was to get over to the public at large that women really can play football and it is not just one big joke," Gore said after the game, which would be her last international in FAW eventually took the women's team under their control in 1993 after being approached by Adams along with fellow internationals Laura McAllister and Karen Jones.A team was entered into Uefa qualifying for the first time two years forward 30 years and the current team's appearance at Euro 2025 is Wales' first experience of playing at a major tournament. As for Gore, her involvement with football continued after her stint managing was assistant manager at Knowsley United, and acted as secretary to Liverpool FC Ladies and as a member of the FA Women's Smith and Rachel Brown-Finnis, the former England internationals, have spoken of their gratitude to Gore and the influence she had on their early 2000 she was awarded an MBE for services to girls and women's association football and she was inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame a year later."Sylvia sat on various FA committees and through my club so did I," said Adams, chairwoman of FA Women's National League South side Gwalia United, who were previously known as Cardiff City Ladies, for whom she played and managed."We used to meet up quite often - two or three times a year - at these meetings and she always came bounding over towards us."She liked the involvement with the Welsh. She was a good soul and did an awful lot for the women's game." Gore died aged 71 in 2016 having made a remarkable contribution to the story of women's football. "She had been through and experienced so many of the important moments in the sport, not just playing and scoring in that first England fixture," added Garry."I think to essentially dedicate your life to trying to grow the game is almost an even stronger legacy than the sheer volume of goals that she scored for Manchester Corinthians, Foden's and England."Undoubtedly that helped both England and Wales get to a place where they are now, where these two teams are in this tournament."
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The Guardian
an hour ago
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Spain overcome early Italy scare to win and set up tie against hosts Switzerland
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Opponents blessed with even greater speed and a more aggressive press should be suitably encouraged. A draw would have been a far from unjust result but, Portugal's defeat against Belgium, confirmed that Italy are also quarter-finalists. While Spain, as group winners, face Switzerland in the last eight back here in Berne next Friday, Soncin's team will meet Norway in Geneva on Wednesday. Italy swiftly settled into five at the back mode but, rapid in transition, looked to counterattack at every opportunity and it would have been no surprise had the crossbar developed a significant fissure after Elena Linari thumped the most powerful of early headers against it. Spain failed to heed that warning and paid the price when they failed to clear a low cross. Arsenal's Mariona Caldentey for once displayed a heavy touch and Italy's gloriously intrepid right wing-back Elisabetta Oliviero used her left foot to expertly redirect the loose ball into the back of the net. 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Not that Tomé would be fooled; her team were in a tough match, against extremely awkward opponents with a highly effective style of their own. It had been a hot and sunny day in Berne but, as the second half began, those fans who had made their way to the Wankdorf Stadium in shorts and T-shirts started pulling on emergency jackets and jumpers. Soncin though suddenly started feeling the heat. He needed nothing more than his fitted white shirt and tie as Del Castillo ran, slalom style, through his defensive chicane and Martina Lenzini's weak clearance headed to Patricia Guijarro. She could hardly pass up such a generous invitation to shoot Spain into the lead and duly did. No matter that it was not exactly the cleanest of hits, Guijarro's strike still flew in via the inside of a post and Italy seemed to sense an almost palpable shift in the power balance. For the first time on the night La Roja really looked on top. Nonetheless Adriana Nanclares, once again preferred to Cata Coll in goal by Tomé, performed wonders to prevent Cantore's awkwardly deflected, high velocity, shot restoring parity. Granted Giuliani did well to deny Aitana Bonmatí a chance to celebrate her recovery from meningitis by diverting the latter's elegantly curving left-foot shot. And, admittedly, Esther González's close-range stoppage time goal after her connection with Putellas's sumptuous cross highlighted Spain's very real threat. But, on this evidence, Tomé's team do not look unbeatable, let alone unplayable.
