The victory for the “tulips” came after a late goal by Wout Weghorst (83′), who had only been on the pitch for a minute.
Before that, the “eagles” had taken the lead through an Adam Buksa goal (16′), and Cody Gakpo restored parity a quarter of an hour before the break.
Netherlands went on the attack from the start and in the second minute Cody Gakpo tested Wojciech Szczesny’s reflexes with a shot from a tight angle. The goalkeeper showed his class and managed to tip the ball over for a corner.
The pressure from the “tulips” intensified, and in the 9th minute they weaved another good combination, which led to a dangerous shot by Ryan Gravenberch from the penalty spot, but his shot went inches past the right post.
“Team Poland” made the most of their first chance in front of goal. Zelinski took a corner, and Adam Buksa rose to the near post and headed the ball home unstoppably into the net of the “tulips”.
Netherlands were close to an equalizer in the middle of the first half when Van Dijk struck a wicked free-kick and although the ball went through a crowd of bodies, Szczesny managed to get down and make a magnificent save. Shortly afterwards, Depay also fired at the “eagles” goal, but the ball flew over the crossbar.
The pressure from the “tulips” became fierce and the logical thing happened in the 29th minute. Cody Gakpo advanced with the ball into the Polish penalty area and shot from the edge of the box, there was a ricochet off Jan Bednarek and Szczesny had no choice but to dig the ball out of his net – 1:1.
Shortly before the final whistle for the first half, the “eagles” survived again as if by a miracle. Nathan Ake played a 40-meter pass that was reminiscent of the iconic pass from Frank de Boer to Dennis Bergkamp at the 1998 World Cup against Argentina. Memphis Depay took the ball on his chest in the penalty area and shot with his right foot, but the ball again refused to find the net, going extremely close to the right post.
The pressure from the Netherlands continued at the beginning of the second half. In the 54th minute, the “tulips” orchestrated a lightning counter-attack in which Gakpo broke away behind the Polish defense and passed to Simons, but the latter’s shot was disappointing.
In the 59th minute Zalewski made a great pass to Kiwior, who took the ball in the Netherlands penalty area and shot dangerously. There was a slight ricochet off Nathan Ake’s foot, but Pasveer was alert. Seconds later, Zelinski also tried his luck with a long-range shot, but again the “tulips” goalkeeper was in the right place.
Exactly 20 minutes after the restart, Poland’s goal was under fire again. This time Denzel Dumfries fired dangerously from a tight angle, but his shot also went past the post.
In the last quarter of an hour Ludogorets player Jakub Piotrowski also appeared on the pitch for Hamburg. He replaced the “eagles” captain – Piotr Zielinski. The armband went to goalkeeper Szczesny.
And so it came to the 82nd minute. Ronald Koeman brought on Wout Weghorst, and he thanked him with a precious goal just a minute later. Once again, Nathan Ake was at the heart of the goal, after breaking through on the left flank and crossing to Weghorst in the penalty area, and the striker delivered a dagger with his left foot – 1:2 for the Netherlands.
In the last seconds of the match, Zalewski made an extremely tricky shot from about 35 meters out, but Pasveer was alert and so the Netherlands took the three points in their first match in Group “D” of Euro 2024.
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