UTRECHT, July 16, 2017 - There were smilesand hugs all round as hosts Netherlands launched UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 with aremarkable demonstration of their team spirit.

After Shanice Van de Sanden’s headerprovided a 1-0 Group A victory over Norway in front of 21,732 fans managerSarina Wiegman hailed her players' unity.

She said: "It was really good to seeus stand on the pitch as one team. We play together, we fight and we play goodfootball. That’s really important as well."

Despite her smile Wiegman was keen to avoidcomplacency ahead of their next test against Denmark.

She said: “We started really well and werewell-organised . . . It was our first match so it was important to win but nowwe go ahead to Denmark and we will work hard in training for that.”

Norway’s Martin Sjögren blamed a lack ofedge up front for his team's failure.

He said: "We had some problems in ourattacking which was the main problem and then we ended up very unorganised indefence.

“We couldn’t really keep hold of the ball andgain possession in the offensive half but still we created some chances even ifHolland created many more.”

Sjögren praised the Dutch side and thehosts' prospects in 'their' tournament.

He said: “They showed they’re a goodattacking team and that’s what they are best at. They had a lot of possession,made many chances and restricted us.

“We said before the game that we couldcreate chances on the counter attack which we did, but today we played a betterteam and Holland showed they are a top nation.

“If the Netherlands play like they didtoday they have a good chance of going very far.”