At the head of a small table at Arsenal’s Sobha Realty Training ground sits Daphne van Domselaar, the Arsenal and Netherlands number one goalkeeper. A gaggle of journalists have gathered around the table to speak with her and she patiently waits for the first question. van Domselaar has been one of the best goalkeepers in the Barclays Women’s Super League this season, the Dutch keeper has the second best save percentage in the league, as well as the second highest clean sheet percentage.
The Halfway Line were among the media that day to speak with van Domselaar who told us about her meteoric rise, her UEFA EURO 2025 ambitions and much more.
‘I live in the present’ explains humble van Domselaar
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In Netherlands’ first game at EURO 2022 they drew 1-1 with Sweden, in that match their number one goalkeeper coming into the tournament, former Arsenal number one Sari van Veenendaal was injured. In her place, just after the 20 minute mark came 21 year old van Domselaar of FC Twente. The youngster had an incredible tournament, making save after astounding save.
She stayed on at FC Twente for another year before signing for WSL side Aston Villa, and last Summer she signed for Arsenal, and has since cemented her place as the club’s number one while never relinquishing that shirt for her national team either. The Halfway Line asked her just how has she been able to manage such a meteoric rise to stardom and success, she humbly responded:
“I’m really a person who lives in the present, so even with the Euros, I knew that that was sort of a kick-off for me, for my career. But at the same time, I wanted to leave the Netherlands and leave FC Twente in the best way possible. And that’s why I choose to actually stay at Twente a year longer to see if I could actually keep up the same level of playing. So I got a year to mentally prepare for the next step, and then I just felt like I had to go to a club where I could make minutes to see where I’m at in the in a new league as well. I know there’s a big difference in the leagues and you need to test yourself. I live in the present so I’m not trying to look that far ahead, but see what comes.”
‘We’re focused’ insists Arsenal’s Dutch number one
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Arsenal recently beat West Ham United 4-3 in an instant WSL classic. One of the final actions of the match was a brilliant save from van Domselaar, this was put to the Dutch goalkeeper as she was asked how she kept her concentration after so much of the second half had been played at the other end of the pitch, she replied:
“I mean, the whole game had a lot of like emotions to it. So especially if you come back to a 4-3 and you make that goal, you know that everyone has that same commitment to not concede again. And what you mentioned, that save from me, but then Beth actually kicked it overhead, kicked it away, everyone literally put their body on the line. So we’re focused, and especially like the last 10 minutes of a game, we know that you need to be sharp to win a game.”
Arsenal struggled to deal with corners that day, conceding twice from two corners in a row, van Domselaar was asked about this, she responded:
“We [had] only conceded two set piece goals before that game, so we can keep that trust from how we did it before. But of course, we looked into it, and we’re still looking into it. How can we play against an opponent who has bigger players. So that’s definitely something we got to work on.”
‘I love being involved’ says van Domselaar on building up from the back
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While Arsenal and Netherlands share a lot of similarities in their playing style there are subtle differences. The Arsenal and Netherlands goalkeeper was asked about those subtleties and how playing for both sides varies, she reported:
“Yes, it’s different like at the National team we play more like a 3-5-2, so it’s a different job for me as well, different position to be at. I’m more behind like the back line, and I’m less included in the build up but still, they expect a lot from me, so it’s completely like different in that way. But at the same time, we still want to play football. We still want to play out from the back, and they’re still expecting me to make the saves. So it’s different, but both are really challenging in their way.”
As for playing with the ball at her feet The Halfway Line asked van Domselaar if she prefers to be involved in the build up, she smiled:
“I like that a lot. It really depends on which team you’re playing against as well, like what sort of structure you need to play, and sometimes I need to be more involved than the other games, but I love being involved in that.”
‘You never know’ van Domselaar on Netherlands chances at EURO 2025
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Arsenal’s Dutch goalkeeper has already enjoyed an extremely impressive international career. Netherlands’ best player at EURO 2022 she also received the Player of the Match award in the Dutch’s FIFA World Cup 2023 round of 16 victory against South Africa. van Domselaar was asked just how far can the Oranje Vrouwen go this Summer at the European Championships, she replied:
“I mean, we would love to go as far as we can. We know that we have a really tough group, but the other ones think the same including England. So it’s a nice challenge to to see where we are, and I think we prepare as best as we can and try our best, but we gotta see it game by game, and we just need to make sure that we win one of the two best games against either France or England.”
She continued: “You never know how far you can go. And if you get in the right zone, the right mentality, you can get far and maybe even further than you think. So we try our best to see what what we could achieve.”
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The Halfway Line asked van Domselaar if there was any rivalry beginning to show within the squad, between the English Lionesses and the Dutch, she laughed:
“Yeah sometimes, of course! But more now not really. I think that will come towards the end of the season. Right now, it’s like Nations League that gets all that attention, and then, of course, playing for Arsenal we’ve got a big schedule ahead as well. So six games, you can’t really think about that much, or that far ahead. So focusing now, but sometimes, yeah, we know that we have to play against each other so that’s cool, it’s nice.”
Netherlands are ‘building a team’ says van Domselaar
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The Netherlands won EURO 2017 and van Domselaar will be hoping for more of the same in Switzerland this Summer. She was asked to tell us a young player that will be one to watch this Summer, she responded, noting Chelsea’s 18 year old centre back Veerle Buurman, stating:
“We have a good centre back that’s going to Chelsea, or actually signed with Chelsea already, she will be definitely the future centre back for the Netherlands. Other than that we have a younger squad than usual, but that’s the game, that’s how the game goes. Players are coming and going, and we’re building a team now. So we have a couple playing in WSL already, a lot of Dutch players coming over, so like [Wieke] Kaptein, Chasity Grant, and you’ve got Jill Baijings as well at Aston Villa and a few more. So that helps us as a team as well to develop, because they develop as players, as individuals.”