Hamburg – Wout Weghorst loved this second with the followers all to himself. That is his colleagues from the Dutch nationwide soccer group. The striker from Bundesliga membership TSG Hoffenheim stood in entrance of the Oranje block within the Volksparkstadion with a large grin and was celebrated because the social gathering’s savior initially of the European Championship towards Poland.
“Unbelievable. It is a dream come true for me. “It is nice to attain a purpose within the European Championship closing,” mentioned the 31-year-old on Sunday after the 2-1 (1-1) win in Hamburg. Weghorst revealed that he had doubts in regards to the state of affairs lengthy earlier than the beginning and the successful purpose within the 83rd minute.
“It is all the time straightforward to say it afterwards, however I mentioned precisely that to my girlfriend this morning. The rating was the identical, 20 minutes earlier than the top,” he mentioned. “It is a bit later, however no matter.”
Weghorst was virtually crushed by his teammates
After making his first contact with the ball two minutes after approaching instead, he was virtually crushed by his teammates in entrance of 48,117 spectators – together with 20,000 Dutch followers alone. “All of us gave Wout a hug. We’re very completely satisfied,” mentioned Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo, who equalized Poland’s shock lead via Adam Buksa (sixteenth) within the twenty ninth minute for the clearly higher Orange group.
Even earlier than the sport, the followers in orange in Hamburg have been partying. Followers organized a procession via the town, dancing and singing. Due to Weghorst the sport didn’t finish with a dampened temper.
Nevertheless, the European Championship received off to a disappointing begin for the attacker, who was loaned to Hoffenheim from FC Burnley final season. “He was a bit offended that he did not play from the beginning,” mentioned Bond’s coach, Ronald Koeman. But it surely was a superb signal that Weghorst was upset. “And he does quite a bit to play. That exhibits his nice spirit.”
He then changed Weghorst as a result of he introduced a distinct type to the sport. Memphis Dempey and Gakpo had missed many possibilities earlier than. “It ought to have been 4-1 after an hour,” Koeman mentioned. And so Weghorst arrived at his particular second. “I used to be instructed clearly what my position was on this competitors. And then you definitely simply need to take advantage of it,” he mentioned.
The sport towards France can be “utterly completely different”
France are subsequent in Group D on Friday (9pm) in Leipzig, title favourites, and the 1988 European champions “It is going to be a totally completely different sport. The French have extra high quality than the Poles,” mentioned Gakpo, who was voted “Man of the Match”. “They’ve additionally performed a distinct type.”
It stays to be seen whether or not Weghorst will play from the beginning. “We’ll see what’s finest for the group and never what’s finest for the participant,” Koeman made clear. “I have never thought in regards to the lineup but.”
Weghorst expressed himself within the spirit of his coach: “There is just one purpose: that we win the cup. It is the identical for everybody on the group. And that is why the start is so vital, as a result of then one thing grows.”