Frank de Boer has no doubts about who will defend the goal of the Dutch national team in the Nations League match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday evening. However, the national coach refused to give names at the press conference on Saturday evening, although it is obvious that Jasper Cillessen is under the bar. De Boer did not comment on the replacement of the suspended Memphis Depay either. Luuk de Jong probably starts at the point of the attack.

“Depay is an important player for the Dutch national team. We’ll miss him. But now we have another player in that position, a player with different qualities. Then we should take advantage of that. ” De Boer was asked whether he was referring to Luuk de Jong, Depay’s most logical replacement. “I’m not going to give a line-up yet. I first want to pass the line-up to the players themselves. But that he is an important candidate in that position, that seems clear to me. ”

“Jasper Cillessen trains well”, continued De Boer, who gave Tim Krul a base place in the friendly game with Mexico (0-1 loss) last Wednesday. “He has left a great impression in recent days”, the national coach pointed to the Valencia goalkeeper. “I am not giving a line-up yet, but I am sure who will play. It would be bad if I still had doubts. ”

Bosnia and Herzegovina had to beat Northern Ireland last week to have a chance of qualifying for the European Championship, but got no further than a 1-1 draw. After penalty kicks it was subsequently lost. “I thought Bosnia played well in the first half. They ended up 1-0 and they had good chances of 2-0 ”, De Boer analyzed Thursday’s game. Miralem Pjanic plays a decisive role in midfield. In the first half you could see they had a lead with Edin Dzeko, but in the second half they fell back as Northern Ireland prevented the ball from going towards him. Bosnia therefore had fewer opportunities. But I thought they were the better team. A disappointing result for them. ”

De Boer does not know whether it is an advantage or a disadvantage for Orange that Bosnia must get back to work immediately. “For Bosnia, the European Championship was the most important thing, they fought for that for a whole year. Then you are not waiting for this match, I think. But on the other hand, you know that the Nations League has its advantages and they will realize that. They play against a reputable opponent and the players will no doubt give their best. I can imagine that after 120 minutes and a penalty shootout they are mentally through it. That is with every top sport, it is trial and error. ”