Netherlands forward Lineth Beerensteyn has labelled the United States Women’s National Team for having a “big mouth” after billing themselves as the main favourites to win the Women’s World Cup which eventually proved unsuccessful.
Beerensteyn noted how the four-time world champions had been talking about reaching the final since the tournament commenced. The USA beat the Netherlands in the 2019 final, and the two teams faced themselves again during the group stage of the ongoing edition which ended in a 1-1 draw in Wellington.
The Dutch however topped Group E with the Americans through to the knockout phase in second place and ultimately crashed out by losing on penalties against Sweden, making it the first time the North American giants failed to make it to at least the semi-finals for which Beerensteyn was relieved.
“The first moment when I heard that they were out, I was just thinking, ‘Yes, bye’. Because, I mean, from the start of this tournament, they had already like a really big mouth,” Beerensteyn said.
“They were talking already about the finals and stuff. And I was just thinking, you first have to show it on the pitch before you are talking. And I’m not being rude in that way.
“I mean, I have still a lot of respect for them, but I mean, now they are out of the tournament and for me, yeah, it’s a relief and for them it’s like a thing that they have to take with them in the future that yeah, don’t start to talk about something that’s like far away. And I hope that they will learn from that.”
????️⚽????️#FIFAWWC #NEDRSA #TheOranjeBeat pic.twitter.com/bj6mTpohbY
— OranjeLeeuwinnen (@oranjevrouwen) August 6, 2023
Beerensteyn scored in the Netherlands’ 2-0 win over South Africa in the Round of 16. The Oranje will take on Spain in Wellington on Friday for a chance to make it to back-to-back semi-finals.
