AZ women ensure Eredivisie double

AZ Alkmaar followed the example of their men's team by clinching the Eredivisie Vrouwen title on Thursday to book a place in the new UEFA Women's Champions League.

Van den Heiligenberg hat-trick
Eleven likely members of the Netherlands UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ squad took part in the title decider, and seven were on AZ's side as they won 6-0 at Willem II in front of a 10,000 crowd to retain the crown they secured a year ago in the first Eredivisie Vrouwen season. The rivals were level on points at kick-off but Chantal de Ridder put AZ ahead at the break and a Claudia van den Heiligenberg hat-trick in the first 15 minutes of the second half effectively decided the game before two Liesbeth Migchelsen penalties.

'Totally unexpected'
Having been knocked out unbeaten on their UEFA Women's Cup debut this season in the first qualifying round on goal difference, AZ will aim for better when their UEFA Women's Champions League campaign begins in the two-legged Round of 32 on 30 September and 7 October, with the draw on 14 August. "This feels great," said AZ coach Ed Engelkes, who also assists national-team trainer Vera Pauw. "That we can hurt the only remaining competitors so hard in the championship decider is fantastic. You hope to win 1-0 or 2-0 but this was totally unexpected. This championship is a reward for the whole team."

Party time
Van den Heiligenberg, who will hope for similar form when the Netherlands face Ukraine, Denmark and hosts Finland in UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ Group A from 23 August, added: "This is unbelievable, there's nothing that compares to this. Winning 6-0 away against your main competitors is great. There was a lot of tension on this match, and as usual I was the most nervous of all. I slept really badly for the last couple of nights thinking about the game, but during the match we handled the nerves very well and seeing the result you can say we handled them more then well today. Now we will party all weekend long."