Dutch press is concerned for the home team as they have to travel 19,000 km to New Zealand for the 2023 Women's World Cup.
The Volkskrant newspaper calculated that the distance from the Dutch Football Association (KNVB) training center to Dunedin, where the team will play its opening match against Portugal on July 23, is at least 18,729 km. The Netherlands will also face Vietnam at Forsyth Barr Stadium in this city in the final match of Group E on August 1. But before that, they have to travel to Wellington to play the defending champions the United States on July 27.
The Dutch team at Schiphol airport, before flying to Australia. Photo: ANP
Netherlands coach Andries Jonker compared the 2023 World Cup to a submarine trip, with the coaching staff and players having to travel halfway around the world to a place unfamiliar to them. To quickly adapt, Jonker has established iron discipline, requiring the players not to leave the team's base and complete a rigorous training schedule.
On July 9, the Dutch team landed in Sydney, Australia, after a connecting flight from Seoul, South Korea. They will stay here for a week before heading to New Zealand. Despite the early flight, the Dutch team did not rest after nearly two days of travel. To acclimatize, they immediately went to the field for a four-hour practice session before returning to the hotel.
The Netherlands is eight hours behind Australia, and two hours behind New Zealand. The human body needs a day to adjust to each time zone difference. To speed up the process, the Dutch team increased the intensity of their training - twice a day. Only after a closed-door training session to prepare for the friendly against South Korea were the Dutch players allowed to leave camp and go outside.
In Australia, the Netherlands use the Sydney FC training complex. But according to coach Jonker, the grass here is no different from a carpet. "Does the ball bounce? Yes. But our feet feel like they are running on carpet. This is definitely not the pitch we are used to, so the team will look for a better pitch," he complained to ESPN .
The Netherlands reached the final of the last Women's World Cup, in France in 2019, losing 0-2 to the United States. Two years later, the Netherlands met the United States again in the quarterfinals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, losing again on penalties. The two teams have a lot of history in Group E at the 2023 World Cup, along with Portugal and Vietnam. The Netherlands beat Portugal 3-2 at last year's Women's Euro. Only Vietnam is an unfamiliar opponent, so the KNVB has arranged a friendly between the home team and another Asian representative - the women's Republic of Korea - to prepare for the match against Vietnam.
Netherlands coach Andries Jonker. Photo: Belga
The Dutch will be based in Tauranga, an island north of New Zealand, from 18 July. It is warmer there than Wellington and Dunedin, which are hosting matches further south and are currently experiencing snowfall. The trade-off is that the Dutch will have to fly to each match. It will take them two hours to get to Dunedin and just over an hour to get to Wellington. If they make it to the next round, they will have to factor in flights to Australia.
"All the equipment needed for the team therefore had to be shipped in double figures," said KNVB spokeswoman Martine Braam. The Netherlands sent 16 packages to New Zealand and Australia each. These included cooking utensils, medical supplies, uniforms (two sets per match)... and even presses for printing shirts. Two sets of each, split between New Zealand and Australia.
The Netherlands have brought 25 players to prepare for the 2023 World Cup. Two of them will be dropped when coach Jonker finalizes the list. The support team has 35 people. Never before has the KNVB sent such a large support team to a team. For that reason, many of them hope that the 2027 World Cup will be held in Europe to save on travel and manpower.
Duy Doan (according to Volkskrant )
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