“I feel terrible for Alicia.”

A lot has suddenly happened in Jung Orangi’s camp in recent days. The patient is Alicia Norbiato, who was replaced at the last minute by Noah Mueller. An early goal against Australia. The first loss of points (2-2) in a match where it was not actually necessary. Yes, the tournament has already started now.

Things suddenly moved quickly less than 24 hours before the showdown with Australia. When Noa Muller entered the hockey arena in Santiago on Tuesday afternoon for the final practice before the World Cup, she was still a reserve. Not anymore, just a few minutes after the break-in. Then suddenly I was part of the competition selection.

Mueller: It was very hectic. We were catching up. Then I was called. Dave [Smolenaars] I said I would replace Alicia. He should have made this decision quickly. I immediately sympathized with Alicia. She’s a friend of mine, and we play hockey together in Amsterdam. I feel terrible for her. Really very sad. I had to stop things immediately. But when the training started, my mind wasn’t quite there. In fact I only turned the switch on in the evening. In the end I was ready in time for the match.

The last training before the World Championships was about to begin. But Jung Orangi’s international players now had to deal with this blow first. After Muller was informed, the news was communicated to the rest of the team, says defender Mickey Roberts. “Of course we all wanted to go to her. But we also had to take her virus into account. That made it difficult to hold her. Fortunately we were able to calm her down. We sympathize with her that way. You don’t want this on anyone.”

For the vast majority of us, this was their first World Cup appearance. This is something different from those training matches in recent days. Defender Mickey Roberts

Up to this point, setup has been going smoothly. Confidence was built against the United States in a training match (7-0). They even reached ten against New Zealand (10-0). It has brought smiling faces to the players of the Dutch youth team in recent days.

But now suddenly it was as if everything was different. The Netherlands were unrecognizable in the first quarter against Australia. As smooth as the ball moved from one stick to another in the practice match against New Zealand, the match now became difficult. It seems as if there is muscle tension. Australia also took the lead in the first corner of the match after twelve minutes: 0-1.

Defender Mickey Roberts explained the poor start as follows: “I think we probably underestimated the tension. I don’t know. But I think so. I don’t know why we started so weak. Maybe we thought about it a little lightly beforehand. For the vast majority of us, this was our first Their appearance in the World Cup is something different from those training matches in recent days.

Trijntje Beljaars scored 2-2 from a corner kick a few minutes before the end. Photo: WorldSportPics/Frank Uelenbrock

I’m disappointed with the draw. But no one has fallen into the sea yet. Defender Mickey Roberts

The positive aspect of the match was the Netherlands’ recovery. The Dutch rookies controlled much of the remaining three quarters. Dave Smolenaars’ side created some good chances. Striker José Moyes scored 1-1 from the round. Trijntje Beljaars converted a corner kick with three minutes left to make the score 2-2. He was also very good defensively. Australia won two corners from which they scored two goals. Considering this, this was the only danger they created.

But a lot of things went wrong, too. Too many passes were intercepted, after which Australia were able to respond. The Netherlands has been green three times. As a result, the organization at the back was not good at times. After receiving the green card in the 52nd minute, the Dutch youth team missed a penalty kick for the second time. The score was 2-1 after a rebound. It was positive that the Netherlands showed resilience and Trentje Beljaars eventually made it 2-2.

Roberts: I’m disappointed with the draw. We passed too many balls in defence. Myself too. We have to look at that critically. But nothing happens yet. Because we made it 2-2, we finished the game feeling reasonably good. We can learn from this. There is no man overboard. tomorrow [donderdag om 22.30 uur Nederlandse tijd] We will play another match against South Africa. We still have everything in our hands.