Pauw proud of Netherlands feat

First finals
Two Karin Stevens goals in Volendam last night ensured the Netherlands secured a 2-0 win against Spain to match their first-leg play-off victory and book their ticket to the finals in Finland next summer. The Netherlands had never even reached the play-offs or beaten Spain before this campaign, but now they will compete in a major women's showpiece for the first time, and Pauw was in no doubt about the importance of their achievement.

'Huge potential'
"The most important result in the history of Dutch women's football," Pauw said. "I hope this is the breakthrough for women's football in the Netherlands. I hope companies will now see the huge potential in terms of the public following. With more facilities we can build on this success. We can work with the players, give them more rest. Now they have to arrange things with their work and schools. They have some help, but they all achieved this mainly by themselves."

Magnanimous Spain
Although Spain will not be going to their first finals since 1997, coach Ignacio Quereda is also optimistic for the future, after a qualifying campaign where they nearly pipped England to first place in their group. "The Netherlands were worthy winners, we would like to wish them the best," he said. "Looking forward, we will want to keep the base of this team as we believe the players have a big future. The qualification phase was a very positive one for us. The objective for next season is to double the number of players with licenses from 15,000 to 30,000 and to consolidate the women's game in Spain."