Weghorst scores late to earn Euros opener victory for Netherlands against Poland
Wout Weghorst came off the bench to score a late winner with his first touch, giving the Netherlands a well-deserved 2-1 comeback victory over Poland in their Group D opener at the European Championship on Sunday.
Weghorst had barely entered the game when he slid home Nathan Ake's perfect pass into the area in the 83rd minute, sending the tens of thousands of "Oranje" fans at Hamburg's Volksparkstadion into raptures.
It was his third consecutive goal as a substitute for the national team.
"So important to get the early win and for me personally it's a dream scenario," the 31-year-old said. "I felt the goal coming. Our aim now is to leave with the trophy."
Hoping to repeat their Euro 1988 victory in Germany, the Dutch dominated from the start with slick passing attacks led by man-of-the-match Cody Gakpo.
But they were taken aback in the 16th minute when Adam Buksa, replacing Poland's injured goal machine Robert Lewandowski, towered above three defenders for a beautiful flick into the net from stand-in captain Piotr Zielinski's corner.
"I have mixed feelings. First there was euphoria but now I'm just sad that we lost that match," Buksa said. "We definitely played a good match against a really good team... No points in this case. However, we are not putting our guns down."
The Dutch equalised in the 29th minute through livewire Gakpo's low shot from outside the area, which deflected off defender Bartosz Salamon and beat Wojciech Szczesny.
To the chagrin of coach Ronald Koeman, the profligate Dutch wasted a slew of first-half chances: classy midfielder Tijjani Reijnders shot just wide, Memphis Depay squandered two good chances, Gakpo shot over, and Virgil van Dijk saw a close-range strike saved.
At the back, Van Dijk appeared to be one step ahead of his man, while Ake marauded forward on numerous occasions, providing assists for both goals.
The Dutch missed more chances in the second half, with Denzel Dumfries' header saved by Szczesny and Xavi Simons shooting wide before Weghorst came to the rescue.
"I felt we should have been three or 4-1 up by then but if you want to win you must score goals, so we knew we needed to change something up front," said a relieved Koeman whose team have France and Austria to come in Group D.
"Wout's aggression is what he brought to the game... He got one moment and swept it in with his left."
It was a disappointing outcome for Polish coach Michal Probierz, despite strong defensive work from a team that demonstrated its ability to perform without Lewandowski's leadership. It also brought an end to his eight-match unbeaten streak with the national team.
After being on the back foot for much of the game, the Poles threw caution to the wind near the end and could have equalised through Karol Swiderski's shot but for a superb save by Bart Verbruggen.
"Of course the Netherlands were driving this match, However, we had a good few situations even after conceding the second goal, it's too bad that we are finishing this game with zero points," said Buksa.
SportsLigue