Wesley Sneijder does not have a good word to say about Georginio Wijnaldum’s performance on Sunday evening. The captain of the Dutch national team played below par in the eighth final against the Czech Republic (0-2) and returns home with the Dutch national team. Tipping point in the match was a red card for Matthijs de Ligt. The central defender made hands with a Czech in his back ten minutes after the break and was able to attack early. Just before that, Donyell Malen had failed to give the the Dutch the lead with a great chance.
In the studio at the NOS asks presenter Henry Schut what they have been watching. “To a very mediocre Dutch team”, Theo Janssen starts visibly piqued. “Especially in possession. How careless we are with the ball. We have not seen the strong holders of this Dutch team, and I am talking about Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum today.” Memphis had a nice heel, with which he only sent Malen to the Czech goal just before the red card. However, the PSV striker tried to pass goalkeeper Tomás Vaclík and failed.
Sneijder was also visibly disappointed in the performance of the Dutch national team. “That was the most typical, Wijnaldum,” adds Sneijder to his colleague analyst. “Today we have not seen anything from him at all. Then you hope that the captain will take the team by the hand, but he has not done that today. Not only Wijnaldum by the way, a lot of them fell through the basket. , that switch. I would never have taken Malen off.” Malen was taken to the side by national coach Frank de Boer when De Ligt had to leave the field. Quincy Promes came in for him.
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“I noticed at Wijnaldum that he was not in the game at all. This also, this is not Wijnaldum”, Sneijder refers to the lost header before the opening goal. “He doesn’t even know where he is. They already explain it themselves, dad in the legs. Normally he is always on time in the sixteen, not now. It was everyone’s fault. You can visit everyone.” opta reported after the game that Wijnaldum completed just ten passes against the Czech Republic, the lowest number of an the Dutch player in a knockout round during the European Championship since the statistics are kept in 1980.
After the game, the the Dutch-internationals remained on the field for some time. “Of course, all kinds of things go through your mind: the goals we give away, the opportunities we get and don’t finish,” said Wijnaldum, who spoke to the Dutch football team. NOS was asked whether he felt powerless during the match. “Yes, after that red card. Then it got harder to put pressure on. If we had the ball we couldn’t get out. That made it even more difficult.”
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