Van de Donk returns mainly to the Orange women in the final match of the European Championship | Currently

Danielle van de Donk will return to the Orange Women’s base on Saturday for the friendly against Finland (starting at 6pm). In the last match before the start of the European Championship, the attacking midfielder, who has been out of action for a long time due to a foot injury, will be preferred over Victoria Belova.

Thirty-year-old Van de Donk had to make do with the substitutes in the previous two international matches: last Friday she played in an exciting exhibition match against England (5-1 defeat) after the break and took home the prize on Tuesday at the World Cup. Qualifying match against Belarus (3-0) 25 minutes played.

National team coach Mark Parsons said he did not want to take a risk with Van de Donk, who has been out of action for more than nine months due to a rare and serious foot injury. It turned out that she was fit in time for the European Championship. At the beginning of last month, she returned to her Olympic club Lyonnais.

This time Parsons thinks the time is right to give Van de Donk a starting point. The 125-time international replaces Belova, who has not made a convincing impression in recent international matches. Moreover, the England national team coach sticks to his trusted names.

The farewell match against Finland is the last match of the European Championship in England for the Orange Ladies. The defending champion will play his first group match in Sheffield next Saturday. Then Sweden, which is also a contender for the European title, is the opponent. This is followed by duels with Portugal and Switzerland.

Former national team coach Vera Bao revealed, on Friday, that she was raped when she was a young player by a high-ranking official of the KNVB club.

Duel tracking the next day Bao tablet

The duel in Enschede comes a day after former national team coach Vera Pau revealed that she was raped as a young player in 1986 by a senior KNVB official. through ad The name Piet Buter appeared on Saturday. Potter, who was the Orange Women’s national coach from 1987 to 1989, served as a coach for the union.

Later, Bao was also twice the victim of misconduct by two other men, who also worked for the FA. The Dutch women’s soccer foundation has submitted reports several times to the KNVB, but no action has been taken. According to Pauw, this happened because the FA opposed and insulted her for years. It wasn’t until after her fifth attempt that an external KNVB investigation was opened.

Researcher Marjan Olvers concluded in May that the KNVB responded with “insufficient preparedness” for the reports. In addition, according to Olvers, it has been shown that there has been “insufficient recognition and lack of recognition by the KNVB for her achievements and contribution to the development of Dutch women’s football”. KNVB apologized on Friday.

Holland and Finland start on Saturday at 6pm at De Grolsch Veste in Enschede. Finland is ranked 29th in the FIFA rankings and has also qualified for the European Championship. The Finns are in Group B along with Germany, Denmark and Spain.