Netherlands W Boss Caught Asking Player to Fake Injury During World Cup Game, Video

• Netherlands Women's coach Andries Jonker employed some 'dark arts' during a World Cup game
• The 2019 losing finalists were facing Portugal in their opening game of the 2023 tournament
• The debutants troubled the Dutch women for long periods in the game but still lost by one goal

Football is a game often won on merit, depending on the class of the players and tactics a team has. Luck and fate also usually have their say at times and so do the so-called dark arts.

For instance, you cannot convince a Liverpool or Mohamed Salah fan that Sergio Ramos did not know what he was doing when he fouled the Egyptian winger during the 2018 Champions League final.

It goes without saying that Jurgen Klopp's side weren't the same after Salah limped off with a shoulder injury.

Real Madrid went on to win 3-1.

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Dark arts don't necessarily have to be about causing harm to an opponent or something purely evil, but anything you use to gain undue advantage over an opponent.

Netherlands W vs Portugal W

Netherlands Women's Head Coach, Andries Jonker, was caught by pitchside microphones and cameras asking Danielle van de Donk to fake an injury during their opening game at the FIFA Women's World Cup on July 23.

The 2019 finalists headed to Australia and New Zealand as one of the favourites beat a Portuguese side that were making their first-ever appearance at the grandest stage.

They went ahead through a Stephanie van der Gragt header in the 13th minute but struggled to break down a resilient Selecao afterwards. Francisco Neto's side threatened to cause an upset on multiple occasions but fluffed their lines repeatedly.

With the Dutch still holding a slender 1-0 lead with 20 minutes to go, as GMS reports, Jonker was spotted beckoning van de Donk to go down and fake an injury to allow him to pass instructions to the rest of the players.

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Van de Donk fakes injury

It appears the script wasn't rehearsed as the Lyon midfielder looked confused about why the coach wanted her to sit down, yet she was okay with it.

Van de Donk even appeared to suggest that goalkeeper, Daphne van Domselaaer, was better suited to fake the injury.

A referee is often inclined to stop play when a play remains down for an extended period of time and immediately when it is a head injury.

Van de Donk finally heeded her coach's words, with the rest of the players rushing to the touchline to get instructions.

Whatever they were told worked as they held on for the win ahead of their showdown against the United States on Thursday in what will be a repeat of the 2019 final.

The USA beat Vietnam 3-0 in their first game.

Zambia's goalkeeper sees red

Sports Brief also reported that Zambia’s FIFA Women’s World Cup debut will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

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The Copper Queens went down 5-0 to Japan and were reduced to 10 after Catherine Musonda was shown a second red card.

The Zambian goalkeeper was first shown a yellow card in the second half when she brought down Aobo Fujinho in the box.