The Netherlands boasted an effective attack at the start of the 26th IHF Women's World Championship, as they hit the 40-goal mark in their 41:26 win against Argentina.

GROUP H
Netherlands vs Argentina 41:26 (20:14)

The Netherlands proved their favourite status and beat Argentina in a high-scoring match, to open their account at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023. The South American team had a lead on their side only at the start of the match (1:0) and the rest of the match was all about the Netherlands.

Argentina did attempt a small comeback mid-first half, when they narrowed the gap to 10:8 with the help of goalkeeper Marisol Carratu's saves, as well as a goal scored by the shot stopper. Their good display was short-lived as a sheer number of turnovers hampered any progress.

The Dutch players showed confidence and a well-structured play resulting in numerous fast-breaks, which helped the Netherlands to stretch out their lead to 18:10.

Even if the Netherlands did not have a win set in stone already in the first half, the opening minutes of the second part cemented the victory. In under two minutes, the Netherlands showed their fats-pace and scored three easy goals, while leaving their opponents with none and propelling to a 23:14. lead.

Argentina were pushing hard, trying to rebound but they could not find a solution for Dutch defensive players. They began slowly to falter as Dione Housheer took the Netherlands to a first double-digit lead, which Argentina could never cancel.

With Argentina's attacking efficiency below 50 per cent at the point, it was obvious the gap would be even wider as the final whistle was approaching. The convincing effort for the Dutch side was sealed by Lois Van Vliet, as the 18-year-old brimming of potential scored the last goal of the game.

On both sides, almost every player got a fair chance to feature in the game. While nine out of 16 field players managed to score at least once for Argentina, the Dutch side was more successful having 12 of them, with Dutch right back Dione Housheer receiving the Hummel Player of the Match for seven of those goals.

hummel Player of the Match: Dione Housheer (Netherlands)