Euro 2024: Wout Weghorst breaks Poland’s hearts with late winning goal for the Netherlands

Euro 2024: Poland vs Netherland match highlights, Less than two minutes after he entered the game as a substitute, Wout Weghorst scored to give the Netherlands a crucial 2-1 victory in their opening Group D match at Euro 2024.

Adam Buksa’s header gave Poland an unexpected 16-minute lead, but Cody Gakpo’s deflected shot past Wojciech Szczęsny less than 15 minutes later gave the Netherlands a well-deserved equalizer.

Nevertheless, in the second half, Poland squandered several chances to take the lead due to the absence of the injured Robert Lewandowski; no striker was able to convert the chances at the back of the net, which allowed Weghorst, a substitute from the Netherlands, to emerge victorious with his almost first touch of the match.

Weghorst scored another important goal for his country as the Netherlands prepares to take on France in the World Cup quarterfinals. With a late equalizer, Weghorst shocked Argentina in the tournament in 2022.

Poland unexpectedly took the lead through a Buksa near-post header from Piotr Zielinski’s whipped corner, following the Netherlands’ commanding start.

Buksa, who has only 16 caps, scored his seventh goal for his country. He is still a skilled backup for the side’s injured captain, Robert Lewandowski, who Poland is optimistic will be well enough to play in the team’s second group stage match against Austria.

Unfortunately, Gakpo’s shot from outside the area took a fortunate deflection and caught Szczęsny in the Poland goal, giving the Netherlands the goal their early domination deserved.

Poland certainly grew into the first half, but the Netherlands will likely have been wondering how it wasn’t ahead when the referee blew for half-time after Memphis Depay and Gakpo missed brilliant chances.

The opening 20 minutes of the second period belonged to Poland, which must have wished that Lewandowski had been fit after squandering a number of good opportunities.

In a game characterized by carelessness in front of goal, the Netherlands also squandered opportunities in the second half. However, Weghorst produced a moment of quality when it counted most, overcoming his defender to turn Nathan Ake’s deflected pass into the net and sending the large crowds of Dutch supporters wearing orange shirts at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion into a frenzy.

The second Group C encounter on Sunday ended in a 1-1 draw between Slovenia and Denmark.

Denmark, leading against Slovenia, experienced a poignant moment as Christen Eriksen, 1,100 days after his cardiac arrest during Euro 2020, scored a stunning goal. He expertly received Jonas Wind’s deft back-heel on his chest and volleyed it into the bottom corner, giving Denmark the lead.

But Erik Janža’s deflected effort in the second half tied the score at one. Benjamin Šeško, playing for Slovenia, looked impressive, especially when he struck the post with a hard drive.

Credit: CNN