The Dutch national team comes into action for the last time this calendar year tonight. On a visit to Poland, Orange hopes to qualify for the Final Four of the Nations League. However, the team of national coach Frank de Boer does not have it in their own hands, because Italy has the best papers. Only with a victory over Poland and a point loss of the Italians against Bosnia & Herzegovina, the Netherlands will qualify for the second time in a row for the best four of the UEFA tournament.

For the time being, the Netherlands has an excellent international match period. A 1-1 draw against Spain and a 3-1 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina enforced protected status for next month’s World Cup qualifier draw. The Orange remains ahead of Switzerland as the number ten in the FIFA rankings (only European countries included), with a place in Pot 1 in the draw as a result. As a result, on the way to the World Cup in 2022, the largest European football countries will be avoided and the chance of qualifying in advance has increased a bit.

The field of participants of the Final Four this edition may look completely different. Where England, the Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland were the four semi-finalists last year, now only the Orange has a chance to qualify. The other three countries have already been eliminated, although the chance that the Netherlands will qualify is not great either. “We are not in control. We have to make sure that we take three points and hope that Italy has a slip, ”said De Boer during the press conference on Tuesday afternoon. The choice lord does not think that Italy will lose points if they play like against Poland. “When you see how they play, that’s really, really good. But these are different circumstances. We are going to do everything we can to tackle three points. We should not think afterwards: we had better done our best. ”

Frank de Boer: ‘We are among the top countries, if everything is right’

The matches Poland – Netherlands and Bosnia & Herzegovina – Italy start simultaneously at 8.45 p.m. De Boer wants to stay informed of the developments at Stadion Grbavica in Sarajevo from the break. “To know our starting position and how we should change,” said the national coach. “Are you going to switch offensively or not? Are you going to play va banque when it is 0-0 or 1-1? If the score requires it, we will play 3-3-4 as in Germany with Van Dijk as extra striker. ” However, Van Dijk is not there due to an injury, so another strong player will be pushed forward in such a scenario.

Where De Boer is firmly in the saddle as national coach, the Polish elected lord Jerzy Brzeczek is in the kick seat. In the event of a defeat against the Netherlands, there is a chance that the Polish Football Association will say goodbye to him, according to Polish media. His fate therefore rests in the hands of De Boer and his team. “I don’t think about that,” De Boer responded when asked to a question from a Polish journalist. “Of course it would be a shame. I know the feeling of being fired and I can’t recommend it to anyone. We try to get a good result. Hopefully he will still be the Polish coach after the game, as he has achieved good results in the past. But it’s not up to me, the union will have to decide. ”

The Polish team must make it possible tonight without Bayern Munich attacker Robert Lewandowski, who was called ‘perhaps the best striker in the world’ by De Boer on Tuesday. “They will miss him, but he didn’t play against us in Amsterdam in September and we won that game with difficulty. In Poland it will also be tough, with or without Lewandowski as an opponent, ”says Georginio Wijnaldum. Breczek has not yet given up hope of playing the 32-year-old captain. “I just spoke with Robert,” said the Polish national coach on Tuesday evening. “He can train with the team and I hope that everything is okay and that he will be at our disposal tomorrow.”

Probable arrangement
De Boer has already seen several players drop out this international period. Matthijs de Ligt, Virgil van Dijk, Marten de Roon and Jasper Cillessen were already injured, while Justin Bijlow, Nathan Aké, Teun Koopmeiners, Tonny Vilhena and Steven Bergwijn dropped out for various reasons. On Tuesday, Ryan Babel also dropped out definitively, as he was tested positive for the corona virus for the second time in a row. The Galatasaray attacker has stayed behind in the Netherlands to recover. De Boer has not called up a replacement. He did not think this was necessary, as the possible replacement would probably not come into action, the national coach said. “And besides, that player would also have to go into the corona bubble again and that doesn’t seem useful to me.”

The presumed Orange line-up according to the Algemeen Dagblad.

De Boer announced during the press moment that he wants fresh legs in his team against Poland. Owen Wijndal therefore seems to be the child of the bill. The AZ-back made an excellent impression in the past two international matches and played a total of 170 minutes. It Algemeen Dagblad expects that he will now have to make way for Patrick van Aanholt, who came in as a substitute ten minutes before time against Bosnia & Herzegovina on Sunday evening. The rearguard will remain unchanged, it is expected. The midfield with Frenkie de Jong, Davy Klaassen and captain Georginio Wijnaldum is also expected to remain intact.

Most changes take place in the vanguard. Luuk de Jong played ninety minutes against both Spain and Bosnia & Herzegovina and seems ripe for a substitution. The newspaper expects Donyell Malen to start at the point of the attack. The PSV striker did not play this international period yet and seems to get his chance tonight. Steven Berghuis also started twice from the base and is expected to be replaced on the right flank by Calvin Stengs. Memphis Depay appears to be starting on the left.

Probable position Orange: Curl; Dumfries, De Vrij, Blind, Van Aanholt; F. De Jong, Klaassen, Wijnaldum; Stengs, Malen, Depay.