Bondscoach Michael Reiziger knows that Jong Oranje can’t afford another mistake after the 1-2 defeat against Denmark at the European Championship in Slovakia. “On Wednesday, those balls have to go in.”
“We had many chances, also good chances,” Reiziger reflected to Ziggo Sport on the loss against Denmark. “Those have to go in. And we didn’t look good on the goals against either.”
Jong Oranje had a disappointing start to the European Championship on Thursday with a 2-2 draw against Jong Finland. Due to the loss against Denmark, Reiziger’s team must win against Ukraine on Wednesday to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Then Jong Oranje will have to be sharper in front of goal than against Finland and Denmark. “The balls that normally go in, didn’t go in tonight,” said Reiziger. “The urgency to score goals was missing. That’s bad luck, but also a lack of sharpness.”
“We scored a lot of goals in qualifying and that gives confidence that we can do it. In three days we have the next chance and then they really have to go in.”
‘It’s not optimal yet’
“The need is now high for us and we are going to act accordingly,” said Reiziger, who is choosing to station backs centrally in midfield this European Championship. Against Finland that was Ian Maatsen and against Denmark Anass Salah-Eddine played in that position.
“We’ll see how we solve that against Jong Ukraine,” said Reiziger about that. “We see that this is not optimal at the moment. On the other hand, we do create a lot of chances.”
Jong Oranje kicks off against Jong Ukraine on Wednesday at 6:00 PM. At the same time, Jong Denmark plays against Jong Finland. Denmark is assured of winning the group. The other three teams are competing for second place.