Orange to World Cup with confidence after a win over Belgium, organization Final Four a fact | Dutch football

By Sjoerd Mossou

The crowd went home cheerfully on Sunday evening, singing and jumping to the party thumps from the speakers, roughly fifty days before the World Cup in Qatar. Thanks to an effective header by Virgil van Dijk, the Orange squad achieved an excellent score from its six Nations League matches: the Dutch national team won its group unbeaten.

A performance that offers confidence and perspective towards the final tournament in November, but the 1-0 win over Belgium did not only offer room for optimism. The lack of Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay was – logically – felt in the Johan Cruijff Arena. The Orange showed themselves dangerous in the quick counter in the last match phase, but this time had trouble making the game.

The game system of national coach Louis van Gaal, which has always led to dynamic football in the last international matches, now looked a bit slow and predictable. Also because of the high resistance, of course: top team Belgium took the match a lot more seriously than in June in Brussels. Although the visitors had fewer chances than the Orange, they were the dominant team until the opening goal.

It was not all about the fringe program in Amsterdam. The KNVB had really pulled out all the stops to get the Johan Cruijff Arena in a euphoric World Cup mood, complete with pounding bass thumps and dazzling light shows. In the break the music was so loud that you imagined yourself at a dance party, instead of at a football match.

It was all less breathtaking on the field. For a long time it was above all a game for the national coaches, less for the public. The Netherlands and Belgium kept each other in balance tactically for a half, playing in similar formations with three centre-backs.

The Orange squad was emphatically tested by the Belgians, in a way that will provide Van Gaal with plenty of useful analysis material towards the World Cup. Belgium started on paper in a 3-4-3, but with Kevin de Bruyne constantly wandering – and with Eden Hazard in a free roll from the left.

The Netherlands briefly looked for coordination in the opening phase, but soon found its grip, with Marten de Roon as a kind of ‘sticky’ to De Bruyne. The rearguard with Jurriën Timber, Virgil van Dijk and Nathan Aké was tested by Belgium’s position changes, but gave away few great opportunities.

At Orange, the lack of Frenkie de Jong was visible, exactly as could be expected beforehand. De Roon played quite a decent game, but is a completely different type, which meant that the creativity in midfield had to come almost entirely from Steven Berghuis. The Orange squad was also predictable up front, with the more static Vincent Janssen replacing Memphis Depay.

After Berghuis had to be replaced by Cody Gakpo after half an hour, the game of the Orange did not become more frivolous. Opportunities were scarce anyway: much more than a shooting opportunity for Vincent Janssen and a good opportunity for Denzel Dumfries did not force the Orange. On the other side, Axel Witsel had the best chance after a smart, quickly taken free kick by Kevin de Bruyne.

The game did not change immediately after the break. Substitute Kenneth Taylor added some depth and a little more surprise to the midfield, but it was Belgium that took the game more and more emphatically. Van Gaal explicitly used the game as a practice match: with Tyrell Malacia and later Stefan de Vrij as ‘fresh’ center defenders, the national coach deliberately tested his defensive options.

The best Belgian chance was for Amadou Onana after a wonderful pass from De Bruyne, but keeper Remko Pasveer made an excellent save. The Netherlands barely got across in the second half, but did score. From a corner from Gakpo, Van Dijk nicely headed in the 1-0, to the great euphoria of the audience.

Belgium kept looking for the equalizer in the last fifteen minutes, but it no longer forced great opportunities. Orange in the counter does. Davy Klaassen and Steven Bergwijn both had imposed opportunities, but both encountered keeper Thibaut Courtois.

In the final minute, the Netherlands was lucky: a beautiful bicycle kick from substitute Dodi Lukebakio ricocheted at the intersection, so that the Orange won and may organize the Final Four of the Nations League in June 2023.