Erwin van de Looi does not think that he can be blamed for anything after the inglorious elimination of the Dutch Juniors at the European Under 21 Championship. The national coach attributes the disappointing draw against Georgia (1-1) mainly to the many missed opportunities in the first half. “It’s not just a disappointment for me, just for our entire team,” said Van de Looi in front of the camera of the NOS.
The Dutch Juniors knew in advance that a victory would be enough to advance to the quarterfinals, but fell short in the final game against host country Georgia. “I think we had so many chances, again today, to win that match,” says Van de Looi. “That’s how football works: if you score two goals in three games it wasn’t good enough. Then you go home. If you look at the first part of the game and how many chances we created in it… Well, what should you do more than create so many chances against this opponent? I don’t think you can do much more.”
Van de Looi received a lot of criticism after the first two group matches, against Belgium (0-0) and Portugal (1-1), and that will not be any different after the loss against Georgia. The national coach is asked whether he blames himself for something. “No, I think we’ve tried everything. We’ve brought in extra wingers, even more people in the box… Actually done everything. The biggest problem this tournament has been missing opportunities, that’s clear.”
Although the Dutch Juniors did indeed play together many opportunities before the break, it seemed that there was no time left for the Netherlands in the second half. After the break, reporter Arman Avsaroglu saw ‘no more team that radiated to want or be able to win’, he explains to Van de Looi. “I don’t agree with you. I think the guys fought to the last, gave it their all. You know that the further you get into the game, the more defensive the opponent will play. They go further back and then it will be difficult to get through. There is no doubt about that.”
With Zuriko Davitashvili’s goal against in minute 42, six defenders of the Dutch Juniors easily passed by. “We didn’t do everything right either, I totally agree with you,” responds Van de Looi, who will be replaced by Michael Reiziger after the tournament. “We didn’t do two things well enough: we conceded a goal out of the blue against Portugal and we conceded a goal out of the blue today. And on the other side of the field we missed too many opportunities.”