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Pragmatic Pauw explains decision

Netherlands coach Vera Pauw told uefa.com: "I apologise for the people that wanted to see good football," after telling her side to hold on when losing 2-1 to Finland to protect their goal difference.

Daphne Koster (left) and Petra Hogewoning (centre) challenge Finland's Linda Sallstrom
Daphne Koster (left) and Petra Hogewoning (centre) challenge Finland's Linda Sallstrom ©Getty Images

Netherlands coach Vera Pauw apologised for ordering her side to hold on to lose only 2-1 to Finland on Wednesday night, in order to protect their goal difference.

Second place
Finland's victory at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki confirmed the progress of the hosts to the UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ quarter-finals as Group A winners, but kept the Netherlands ahead of Denmark in second place on goal difference with three points each. That means Pauw's side only need a draw when they meet the Danes in Lahti on Saturday to guarantee a last eight berth. Laura Österberg Kalmari's early goal was cancelled out by a superb solo Kirsten van de Ven effort, but when the Finland strike scored again midway through the second half, Pauw began to suspect her side, in their first final tournament, would crumble as in the recent 6-0 friendly reverse in Germany.

Dominated
Pauw told uefa.com: "I need to apologise for our last 21 minutes, the way we played. I know my team very well, and we would have opened up and conceded a third and fourth goal. If we are in a different mood, and that has to do with our culture, we can fight against any team, but they were dominated by a physically strong team and by a crowd that was making noise all the time. They were getting passive and reactive instead of proactive and aggressive."

Strategy
So her strategy was clear. "I decided after going 2-1 down to not concede a third as I was sure we'd let in a fourth goal as well. That's why we chose this strategy to hold on, Finland were of course happy with 2-1, we knew they would not press further. I apologise for the people that wanted to see good football but we have chosen tournament results and on Saturday we will see if we have made the right choice."

Spectacular goal
Of course, there was the high point of the Van de Ven goal. "She did it all herself, it came out of nothing," Pauw said. "To be honest it was the first good pass forward to one of our forwards. I said to her, 'I don't know how you did it, but well done.'"

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