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Andries Jonker had maintained that “on some days miracles happen” but this was most definitely not one of them.
Admittedly there was a spell when Jonker’s Netherlands teased everyone by threatening France with the prospect of an unlikely elimination but ultimately Delphine Cascarino, Marie-Antoinette Katoto and the rest of Laurent Bonadei’s attacking armoury were far too powerful to be eclipsed.
As France topped Group D having scored 11 goals in the course of three wins and now prepare to face Germany here on Saturday, the 2017 European Champions head back to Amsterdam and their latest head coach bids them farewell.
A hot, sunny Sunday in Basel had turned increasingly humid and it was no surprise when thunder and lightning prefaced torrential pre-match rain at St Jakob-Park.
That apocalyptic preamble seemed thoroughly in keeping with a dramatic beginning in which the France goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin was quickly forced to dive low to deny Victoria Pelova from distance.
Attacking urgency represented the Netherlands’ sole hope of progression from Group D but, much as it sent excitement levels soaring inside the stadium, this exhilaratingly gung-ho approach invited counterattacks. Daphne van Domselaar duly had to save from Delphine Cascarino with her legs before tipping Sakina Karchaoui’s follow-up shot round a post as the rain started falling again.
Given that Laurent Bonadei’s side required only a draw, at most, to progress there was a sense France were playing within themselves as, with mixed results, they attempted to draw the Dutch sting by slowing things down at every opportunity and taking their time over dead balls.
Such patience proved a virtue, temporarily at least, when the unmarked Sandie Toletti half-volleyed Les Bleues ahead after meeting Marie-Antoinette Katoto’s fine left-wing cross after a damaging concession of possession on the Oranje’s part.
Not that Dutch redemption was too far away. Although Peyraud-Magnin performed wonders to keep out Chasity Grant’s volley, Pelova delighted in lashing the rebound into a top corner.
The psychological damage inflicted when England beat Jonker’s team 4-0 in Zurich looked to be evaporating by the minute. By way of proving it, the Netherlands assumed the lead through Selma Bacha’s own goal after Peyraud-Magnin’s failure to deal with a cross.
Although Bacha seemed well positioned to clear off the line she was wrong-footed by Lineth Beerensteyn’s fleeting touch, leaving the ball to rebound off her and ricochet into the net. A disapproving Bonadei responded by folding his arms a little tighter and shaking his head.
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With the Netherlands now only a couple of unanswered goals away from reaching the quarter-finals at France’s expense, Jonker’s pre-match talk of “a miracle of Basel” suddenly did not seem quite so fanciful.
And particularly not when Dutch fans were treated to the sight of their principal goal threat, Vivianne Miedema, warming up early in the second period. The need to ration her on-pitch minutes after recent injuries had dictated the Manchester City striker started on the bench but the sight of her limbering up unnerved Les Bleues fans, some of whom had travelled from the outlying suburbs of Basel that geographically belong to France.
Or at least it did until Katoto reminded everyone that Bonadei possesses a star striker of his own. When a momentary loss of Dutch focus handed possession to Cascarino her game-changing lofted through ball left Katoto’s left foot to do the rest.
Not to be upstaged, Cascarino swiftly scored an even more eye-catching goal from the edge of the area after dodging a couple of Dutch defenders before cutting inside and unleashing a dipping and unerring right-foot shot.
Suitably inspired, Cascarino then scored a second goal, polishing off the rebound after Katoto’s shot rebounded off both posts.
As serial under-achievers at a series of major tournaments, France are horribly prone to hitting the metaphorical woodwork but as Karchaoui scored their fifth goal here, an immaculate left-foot penalty, the sense that this time it might just be different grew.
