Reason why Netherlands soccer player wore swim cap revealed

Many fans who watched Wednesday night’s Women’s World Cup match between Netherlands and the US Women’s National Team were wondering why a player had a swimming cap on, and we have since gotten an explanation.

Netherlands star Danielle van de Donk collided with US midfielder Rose Lavelle while the two were pursuing a free ball in the 94th minute. The two banged heads, and van de Donk briefly left the field before returning with a swim cap.

Best of luck to Danielle van de Donk in the 50m freestyle pic.twitter.com/UFJuz0tIMB

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After the 1-1 draw, van de Donk was still wearing the swim cap. She told the media she was unable to take it off because she sustained a cut on her head and there was “a lot of blood.”

By rule, players are not allowed to return to the pitch if they have an injury that is actively bleeding. The swim cap kept pressure on van de Donk’s wound and helped prevent blood from running down her head and onto her uniform.

“I thought, ‘It will stop soon,'” van de Donk said. “Then the medical team was there. And then I heard, ‘Swim cap, swim cap!’ I said, ‘No, I don’t really want that!’ But I had to. Otherwise I couldn’t continue,” van de Donk explained, via TODAY.com.

Netherlands and the US both have 4 points atop Group E following their 1-1 draw. The US will take on Portugal Tuesday while the Netherlands faces Vietnam.