Memphis Depay is fit enough for a starting place in the first game of the World Cup against Japan. Ronald Koeman said this at his last press conference before the match at the Dallas Stadium. The national coach also announced that Bart Verbruggen will be in goal.
From the US
Dallas was once the city of his last international match as a player. Now it is the metropolis of his first World Cup international match as national coach. Although 32 years have passed, Ronald Koeman feels the same butterflies in his stomach again, says the national coach in the run-up to the Netherlands – Japan today at 10 p.m. Dutch time.
“What I felt in 1994, I feel again now,” said Koeman. “A World Cup is the biggest tournament in football. It means something to me that it starts now. And I also notice from our group that it can start now. Everyone is full of adrenaline. Everyone is ready and looking forward to it.”
The Dutch flew from base camp in Kansas City to Dallas on Saturday afternoon. A relatively short trip of an hour and 20 minutes. A completely fit group on board, including Bart Verbruggen. The goalkeeper recovered in time from the hip injury he sustained against Algeria. Koeman: “Bart is goalkeeper against Japan. Behind him, Mark Fleken is our second goalkeeper this World Cup and Robin Roefs is number three.”
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Koeman is still keeping the ten field players who will start against Japan a secret. The line-up will broadly be that of the first half against Algeria, but the national coach may change something in the composition in terms of names.
Koeman also announced that Memphis Depay is fit enough to possibly start. “Over the past two days I have provided clarity to players about how we are going to start,” said the Dutch national coach.
“Memphis is fit and can start. We started preparation ten days ago and he has made progress. He has become fitter. That looks good. He is an important part of possible success at this World Cup.”
“We have been able to train well on our tactical plan over the past two days,” Koeman continued. “We want to improve things and you can think of the positioning of the midfielders. They have to do better together when we are in possession of the ball. And when we don’t have the ball, we as a team have to narrow down the spaces even better, so that an opponent cannot play through us, but has to go around us.”
Making the field small starts at the front. Koeman: “We have spent time on that and I am satisfied with it. But performing well in training is one thing, and also showing it in the match is another.”
Frenkie de Jong is also happy that the World Cup for the Dutch team is starting. The vice-captain sat next to Koeman at the last press conference last night. De Jong also has experience playing football in Dallas. He already played with Barcelona in the immense AT&T Stadium, which has room for 94,000 spectators tonight.
“That was in pre-season against Real Madrid.” Just like then, the roof is closed tonight and the air conditioning is blaring. Outside in Dallas it is well over 30 degrees and humid. Indoors, the Netherlands – Japan will be played at an expected temperature of around 24 degrees.
De Jong is told that there is skepticism in the Netherlands about the chances of the Dutch team after two difficult practice matches with Algeria and Uzbekistan. “I understand that on the one hand, but on the other hand it was not as bad as the feeling that you, the media, have. We had an expected goal value of four against Uzbekistan. Normally I am not a fan of that kind of data, but it does say that we could have scored a lot of goals.”
The two practice matches have not affected his confidence. “And none of us do. Hopefully we can also give the country a little more confidence with a good World Cup start against Japan.”
Drink breaks allow for four quarters
Although the match will be played under relatively favorable conditions, the Netherlands – Japan will also be interrupted in both halves for a drinks break. What do Koeman and De Jong actually think of the fact that football at this World Cup has become a sport of four halves? And do they take it into account, like the national coach of South Korea?
He deliberately has his players accelerate for 22 minutes during the daily training sessions and then always takes a three-minute break. De Jong, with a smile: “We were recently only allowed to drink after 22 minutes, so they also thought about it.”
And Koeman: “We are certainly responding to this new rule. During the first drinking break you can tell players in any way what is important or what needs to be done differently. You can use the second drinking break as a moment of substitution. You can make it clear to everyone what you want with a substitution, while the opponent knows nothing about it.”
Maarten Wijffels
Maarten Wijffels is the football expert on this site and explains top football with analyses, interviews and background stories. He has been following the Dutch national team as a regular follower since 2003. Read all his contributions this file!