Opinion: Win or lose in final, Netherlands emerges from Women’s World Cup as a force

LYON, France — A decade ago, the Netherlands was about to play in its first major international tournament.

Now the Dutch are playing for the World Cup final.

If there’s been a theme in this World Cup, it’s the quick return European countries are seeing on their investment in their women’s program. England, France, Italy and Spain have all gotten infusions of cash, support and attention from either their federations or the folks running the men’s professional leagues in the last five years, and, lo and behold, all four teams reached the knockout rounds here in France.

The progress in the Netherlands is particularly remarkable.

Prior to the 2009 European championship, the Dutch had never even qualified for a major tournament. Not the World Cup, not the Olympics, not even the Euros.

But the creation of the Dutch professional league, in 2007, has been transformational. It provided a professional training atmosphere beyond national team training camps, and gave players the chance to play consistently.

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The Dutch made their World Cup debut in 2015, reaching the round of 16. Two years later, they won the European title.

Netherlands players celebrate after their win over Sweden in the World Cup semifinals. (Photo: Frederic Mons, USA TODAY Sports)

Now, they’re playing the top-ranked U.S. women for the World Cup title.

“The potential has been in the Netherlands for a longer period of time. But the facilities weren’t there. Since 2007, when the (league) started and players got better facilities and could train more, the players developed so much,” coach Sarina Wiegman said.

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“Then, when you are at big tournaments like the European championship and the World Cup, they develop even more. They make transfers to big clubs in Europe,” Wiegman added. “Now they’ve been in a couple of tournaments, so they are very experienced now, too, and they believe they can perform really well. Belief is one of the things, too, that make things happen.”

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