Teun Koopmeiners made a good impression on Rafael van der Vaart in his first months as a player for Atalanta. The midfielder and his team lost 3-2 against Manchester United on Wednesday evening after a 0-2 lead, but proved his worth with a flawless assist. Also last weekend, Koopmeiners made an excellent appearance in the Serie A against Empoli (1-4 win).
Koopmeiners got confidence against United from trainer Gian Piero Gasperini and saw how Marten de Roon dropped a line to the defense as a result. Atalanta started energetically and took a comfortable 0-2 lead within half an hour. In the second half, however, things still went wrong for the Italians and United completed the comeback in the final phase via a header from Cristiano Ronaldo. With Atalanta’s second goal, Koopmeiners placed a corner perfectly on the head of Merih Demiral, who only had to rub the leather for the 0-2.
“I think this is a great step for him, from AZ to Atalanta,” said Van der Vaart before the game. Ziggo Sports. “It is not the absolute top, but a very nice club. He has such a wonderful left leg. It radiates something. He has the Theo Janssen long ball I always say, one of the most beautiful long balls I have seen. I think he radiates what he has at AZ, he is already starting to become a bit of a leader. He radiates that he feels good and it is a good signal that they dare to play him.”
Koopmeiners is currently alternating base places with substitutes at Atalanta. He stayed on the bench at the Dutch during the last World Cup qualifiers. “He really radiates something,” emphasizes Van der Vaart again. “He often comes to the ball, they are looking for him. That corner is really very well cut. Sometimes he also has to be a bit lucky that you hit a ball well. In these kinds of matches he cannot be decisive, but of course they have Also a very good team. Before he came they were already good. You can see that the coach has confidence in him and that is a good sign.”