The United States Women’s National team is used to dominating the competition in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, but it sounds like one opposing coach thinks those days could be coming to an end.
Ahead of this week’s match against the USWNT, Netherlands head coach Andries Jonker claimed that he thinks the fitness of European athletes has caught up to the Americans.
“The intensity in European football really has grown the last couple of years, as well as the fitness,” Jonkers told ESPN’s Fresia Cousiño Arias in some translated comments. “In the past, the American women were a lot fitter than the rest of the world, but I really think those days are over. If you look at the Champions League nowadays, you see the same level of intensity. So the big question is now: What is left of their superiority? Let’s see about that.”
Obviously, the United States still has their confidence, entering the tournament as the top-ranked team in the world as they try to win the tournament for the third consecutive time. But Jonkers said he thinks “the pride comes before a fall.”
“I’m from Amsterdam, so I’m familiar with a confident attitude,” Jonkers said. “If you perform at such a high level for a long time, you are allowed to have a great amount of confidence. But on the other side, pride comes before a fall, so it’s on us to be the first to show their time to fall has come.”
The Dutch did not beat the United States in Wednesday night’s match, but they pull off a hard-fought draw, perhaps validating some of these comments.
[ESPN]
