Despite the fact that Frank de Boer is the third national coach in history who has not been able to win in his first three duels with the Dutch national team, the Dutch Team left the field on Wednesday evening with their head held high. A modified way of playing in the Nations League match against Italy led to a 1-1 draw. De Boer had a significantly better feeling from the draw in Bergamo than from the disappointing results of the Dutch team against Mexico (0-1) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (0-0) last week.

De Boer stepped down from the usual 4-3-3 line-up and opted for a 5-3-2 formation. In this way he wanted to prevent the Netherlands from being surprised again by the attacking game of Italy, as was the case during the first game in Amsterdam last month. This time it was the Italians who were surprised. “I think it was the first time that the Netherlands switched to this system and we were surprised by that. We already knew that this would be a difficult match ”, Roberto Mancini acknowledged after the match in conversation with Italian media.

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The fact that Italy could not dictate the game was, according to Mancini, the great achievement of the Dutch national team. “There are of course opponents who can cause problems and that is what happened tonight,” emphasized the national team coach. la Squadra Azzurra. “We looked for the attack and I think we ultimately created the most great opportunities. It was a good match, a real battle. ”

Poland took the lead in group a1 of the Nations League due to the draw in Italy – the Netherlands. The Poles won 3-0 against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had to continue with ten men after fifteen minutes. Robert Lewandowski (twice) and Karol Linetty provided the goals. Poland is the next opponent that Italy will receive on home soil. Then a duel with Bosnia and Herzegovina awaits.

“We will compete with Poland for the lead,” concluded Mancini, who looks confidently to next month. “We are going to win the next two games and qualify for the next round.” Gianluigi Donnarumma was also commendable about the strength of the Dutch national team. “They played very strongly in a system that we did not see coming. We knew in advance that it was going to be difficult, but unfortunately we couldn’t win. I think we had the best chances of victory. It is not a step back from the victory in Amsterdam. The most important thing is that we are unbeaten ”, the goalkeeper assured.