Nathan Aké looks back with mixed feelings on the European Championship qualifying match won against Gibraltar (3-0). The left back on duty was responsible for two of the three hits and that led to satisfaction, although he had hoped to achieve an even bigger victory as a team. In any case, Rafael van der Vaart and Pierre van Hooijdonk are impressed by Aké, who in the eyes of the analysts is ‘the only man in form’.
“It was an evening as we expected,” says Aké in front of the camera of the NOS. “We had a lot of the ball and we created a lot of chances, but unfortunately we didn’t score very many goals. It might be okay again on another day. You just want to score as many goals as possible. Yet it always remains a difficult story when you play against ten men in sixteen. We will continue to build this the Dutch towards the summer.”
Aké was responsible for both the 2-0 and the 3-0. The Manchester City defender secretly hoped to score his first ever hat-trick, but a third goal failed to materialize. “It hasn’t happened much more often that I scored two goals, haha. It was very busy where the strikers were, so I think that’s why the defenders got a little more space. I am obviously very happy with my goals. At one point I thought: it would be nice to have the first hat-trick in my career. Unfortunately, it was not to be,” concludes Aké.
“I was thinking, hey: he is actually the only one who is really in shape,” Van der Vaart responds after listening to Aké’s interview. “I also read somewhere that he might have to be a bit more brutal. But no, this is his character. Look what he achieves! It is no coincidence that he scores two goals.” Van Hooijdonk joins his colleague. “I totally agree, we are on the same page. We saw during the World Cup that it really is a silent force. He is a modest boy and during the World Cup he was upgraded. He actually just continues that great line,” said the analyst.