The Dutch national team will play in the Nations League on Sunday evening at 6 p.m. In Zenica Bosnia & Herzegovina is the opponent of Frank de Boer’s team. The national coach saved a number of important players on Wednesday in the 0-1 loss exhibition game against Mexico. In the Bilino Polje, the home of NK Celik, it will have to be better to take the second victory of this season in the UEFA tournament.

The Netherlands made a poor impression against Mexico on Wednesday evening. Virgil van Dijk, Stefan de Vrij and Marten de Roon came into action for only 45 minutes, while Jasper Cillessen, Denzel Dumfries, Daley Blind and Frenkie de Jong sat on the bench for the entire match. De Boer admitted before the game that he did not play with his strongest line-up, because he wanted to save some internationals for the Nations League games with Bosnia and Italy (Sunday). This allowed Owen Wijndal and Teun Koopmeiners to make their debut. After the loss, captain Van Dijk indicated that it took some getting used to playing in a different composition and that it was one of the reasons why things did not go well. Personal mistakes made by Tim Krul, Hans Hateboer, Wijndal and Koopmeiners, among others, created great opportunities for Mexico. In many ways it was a race to forget quickly.

De Boer said afterwards to the NOS that he has a ‘bad feeling’ about his debut as national coach, although he added a comment: “I can only change six times and the guys who normally have a chance to play have all played on Sunday. Then I have to dose that. I am mainly thinking about the next two games. If I let them play these three games now … They’re going to play games every three days through December. I think it was just a very wise choice of ours ”, said the choice lord. Despite the defeat and the poor game, there was something positive to report afterwards: all Dutch national team-players have come out of the game with Mexico unharmed and are fit for the coming games.

De Boer hands out compliments after defeat in Mexico: ‘Great debut’

Despite the fact that Bosnia & Herzegovina is at the bottom of the group, there should be absolutely no underestimation. The team of national coach Dusan Bajevic kept Italy to a 1-1 draw, while Poland was narrowly lost 2-1. Especially in the vanguard, there is more than enough quality around the opponent of Orange. Edin Dzeko is the big man at the point of attack, while Istanbul Basaksehir winger Edin Visca is a player to keep an eye on. Miralem Pjanic sets the lines in midfield. The question is to what extent the selection of Bosnia & Herzegovina can charge itself for the duel with Orange; last Thursday, it was dealt a major blow in the play-offs for the European Championship qualification. Next year Bosnia & Herzegovina will not be there in the European final round. At home, it remained 1-1 against Northern Ireland and because no goals were scored in extra time, a penalty shootout brought the decision. Misses from Visca and Haris Hajradinovic cost the country dear.

Probable lineups:
Compared to the game against Mexico, De Boer will make a large number of changes. Cillessen will return below the bar. The fact that he did not play on Wednesday had to do with the fact that he has just recovered from an injury and De Boer did not want to take any risks with him. The trainer has already confirmed that the Valencia goalkeeper will play. Denzel Dumfries is expected in the right back position. The PSV keeper relieves Hans Hateboer, who did not make a good impression against Mexico. The center will be formed by Stefan de Vrij and Van Dijk. De Vrij is the replacement for the injured Matthijs de Ligt and, like Van Dijk, played only half on Wednesday. In left back position, Daley Blind is expected to appear at kick-off. He replaces Wijndal, who had his hands full with Jesús Corona on his debut.

The midfield in Bosnia will be formed by De Roon, Wijnaldum and De Jong. Donny van de Beek and Koopmeiners will have to settle for a place on the couch. De Jong had minor complaints and therefore stayed on the couch for ninety minutes. De Boer reacted in a nuanced way to the comment that without De Jong, ‘the midfield would look very different from the start’: “We all know that he is very important to the Dutch national team, but I must say that you are also failing Koopmeiners. I think he really played a great game. He also made his mistakes, but I think Koopmeiners just played a very good game for ninety minutes. Frenkie has of course been at this level for some time and we all know what he can do. ”

From an offensive point of view, Orange is somewhat battered. Memphis Depay is missing because of a suspension. In September, the Olympique Lyon striker was booked against both Poland and Italy. On Wednesday, the attack leader of the Dutch national team can be deployed again on a visit to Italy. His replacement in the striker is probably called Luuk de Jong. The striker of Sevilla already came in on Wednesday evening and was close to the equalizer. It Algemeen Dagblad does not rule out Donyell Malen appearing at kick-off. The PSV striker was left out of the match selection on Wednesday and took place in the stands. Steven Berghuis made a good impression on the right flank and may have forced a starting place, while it is still a question mark who will play from the left. Ryan Babel played against Mexico, but did not make the best impression. Ajax player Quincy Promes may be preferred, the newspaper also expects. De Boer may change five times tomorrow.

The entire midfield of Orange has to watch out for a yellow card on Sunday evening. De Roon, De Jong and Wijnaldum are on edge and are suspended for the duel with Italy due to a yellow print. Joël Veltman is also on edge.

Probable position in the Netherlands: Cillessen; Dumfries, De Vrij, Van Dijk, Blind; De Roon, Wijnaldum, F. De Jong; Berghuis, L. De Jong / Malen, Promes

Probable position of Bosnia & Herzegovina: Sahic; Cipetic, Ahmedhozic, Sanicanin, Kolasinac; Cimirot, Hadziahmetovic, Pjanic; Visca, Dzeko, Krunic