The Dutch national team failed to qualify for the final of the Nations League on Wednesday evening. Noa Lang managed to get an extension out of the fire in the last minute of injury time, but Croatia came out on top: 2-4. Afterwards, Ronald Koeman looked somewhat annoyed when a joke was made by Ziggo Sportreporter Bas van Veenendaal.
In the catacombs of De Kuip, the national coach of the Dutch spoke to the reporter. At the end of Van Veenendaal’s interview, Koeman was asked whether the defeat against Croatia felt better than against France (4-0 loss) a few months ago, despite the fact that the the Dutch had again conceded many goals. However, Koeman did not seem to fully understand the question. “Yes, what needs to be improved? I don’t count those last two goals against, because that is an extension in which you take all the risks that entails. So that’s different,” the national coach replied.
“If we don’t count those other goals against (in regular playing time, ed.), then you have won,” Van Veenendaal said jokingly. This light-hearted remark did not sit well with Koeman. “Yeah, when you look at it that way… It’s a bit of a stupid comment on your part, by the way. Oh, was this a joke? That’s how we can be in the Netherlands, right, after a match like that.”
Koeman indicated earlier in the interview that Croatia did not unjustly win on the basis of 120 minutes of football. “I think we can be very happy with the first half. We made it 1-0, only after the break we didn’t get out of the dressing room well. Then you saw how stable their midfield was. Due to a clumsy foul (by Cody Gakpo, ed.) We conceded a penalty kick and it became 1-1, after which Croatia was the better team.”