WOUT OF THIS WORLD
Poland 1 Netherlands 2: Weghorst the hero as former Man Utd star scores off the bench in Euro 2024 opener
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MANCHESTER UNITED flop Wout Weghorst spared Dutch blushes - with the sort of impact he could only have dreamed of providing.
The striker, who spent last season on loan from Burnley at Hoffenheim after failing to make much of an impact at Old Trafford, was Ronald Koeman’s emergency option after the Oranje looked to have run out of ideas.
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And with his very first touch - and just seven minutes left in an increasingly nervy Volksparkstadion in Hamburg - Weghorst came up with the magic moment to take the points.
United fans may not have seen Weghorst as a natural frontman during his half season under Erik ten Hag, failing to find the net in 17 Prem outings.
Indeed, he was more of a laughing stock than the answer to their attacking woes, more carthorse than thoroughbred.
But when Nathan Ake, not for the first time, drove to the edge of the box and slipped into the danger area, Weghorst reacted quicker than the Polish defence to crash low and first time past Wojciech Szczesny.
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It was instinctive and deadly, a moment of quality that had seemed unlikely as his side had huffed and puffed without looking like blowing the Polish house down.
Weghorst was mobbed by his team-mates, Koeman danced in delight and the Dutch fans screamed with joy. Victory meant so much, relief and ecstasy combined.
Bart Verbruggen’s late stop to foil Poland substitute Karol Swiderski ensured it capped a comeback win from a match that highlighted both Holland’s strengths and their evident weakness.
Despite going a goal down from a sucker punch set-piece, as Adam Buksa somehow managed to elude four navy-shirted markers to find the back of the net, the Dutch dominated most of the game.
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Some of their passing was excellent, clever triangles and quality movement.
Yet even Virgil van Dijk looked shaky at times, Verbruggen was called into action more than Koeman would have wanted and when Poland did push they exposed raw nerves.
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Even after Cody Gakpo’s deflected effort put them back on terms before the half-hour mark, the longer it went on the more that failure to take their openings looked likely to frustrate them.
That goal was down to Ake, too, as he intercepted a panicky clearance to feed Gakpo, delighted to see the deflection off defender Bartosz Salamon to wrong-foot Szczesny.
Memphis Depay, whose own spell in United red was almost as underwhelming as Weghorst, was the main culprit, but the misses were spread around Koeman’s side.
Credit should go to Poland’s resolve, especially with the absence of hamstring victim Robert Lewandowski a massive blow.
But if Depay, Gakpo, Denzel Dumfries or Xavi Simons had kept their heads as well as Weghorst did in his moment of triumph the afternoon would surely have been a great deal less frantic.
Depay’s brilliant white headband only served to exacerbate the limitations of his display as he became increasingly angst-ridden.
Gakpo, despite having the freedom of the left flank and with that equaliser in his pocket, was equally wasteful.
The Liverpool man’s worst miss came just before the break, scooping over the bar from six yards with the outside of his right foot after great work by Ake had teed him up.
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Either side of that - after Szczesny made a great save from Van Dijk corner volley when the Anfield skipper went up to make amends for being outsmarted and outjumped by Buksa - Depay was the guilty party.
Simons, found by the impressive Tijjani Reijnders, touched into his path 14 yards out with the target begging but Depay sent the ball almost into orbit as he opted for power over precision.
A shocker, by any standards.
And in stoppage time, picked out by another great Ake delivery, he scuffed wide of the target. Beyond poor.
It was a pattern that was to continue in the second period, as Holland were the dominant force but lacking the courage of their own convictions.
Szczesny rescued his side as he prevented Dumfries’ deft nod back finding Depay in front of the net after Gakpo’s searching delivery straight after the restart.
Then when Gakpo broke from his own half to beat the offside trap, Simons thrashed across his shot and sent it sailing into the crowd behind Szczesny’s goal.
Poland had been on the back foot but nearly caught the Dutch cold again when Jakub Kiwior - denied from similar range in the first half - stayed up from a free-kick and tested Bart Verbruggen from 14 yards, sparking a rare spell of attacking intent.
Yet Holland came again.
Dumfries was a fraction wide with an angled drive and then denied from closer range by the keeper’s legs, before Stefan de Vrij sent a free header soaring far too high.
That miss appeared to be a killer, only for Weghorst, just on for Depay, to have the ultimate word.
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Good enough for three points, for sure. And after all, when the tournament was held in Germany in 1988, Holland won despite losing their opener.
But they did not look like potential winners in Hamburg. Not even close. And next up, France.
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