Valente is the 32nd debutant in the Dutch national team led by national coach Ronald Koeman. Hans Hateboer was the first on March 23, 2018 and Emmanuel Emegha the 31st last Friday in Poland.
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In between, Wout Weghorst, Guus Til, Justin Kluivert, Ruud Vormer, Frenkie de Jong, Denzel Dumfries, Steven Bergwijn, Arnaut Danjuma, Pablo Rosario, Javairô Dilrosun, Donyell Malen, Calvin Stengs, Myron Boadu, Lutsharel Geertruida, Mats Wieffer, Joey Veerman, Tijjani Reijnders, Bart Verbruggen, Quilindschy Hartman, made their debuts. Jeremie Frimpong, Micky van de Ven, Brian Brobbey, Jorrel Hato, Thijs Dallinga, Quinten Timber, Joshua Zirkzee, Jan Paul van Hecke, Ian Maatsen and Sem Steijn.
Valente has an Italian father and could therefore have played for that country. Now that he has played his first minutes in an official game for the Dutch team and he is over 21 years old, that is no longer possible.
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Debut in Orange ’emotional moment’ for Feyenoord player Valente
Valente called his debut in the Dutch national team “an emotional moment” on Monday.
“Of course I also made my debut at FC Groningen and Feyenoord, but it is different for your country. You dream of this from an early age. This was a wonderful moment. It felt unrealistic. I will never forget this day and neither will my family. They are also proud,” said Valente.
As usual with debutants, Valente spoke in the locker room after the game. “I told them that I am grateful to them for the past week. And I also congratulated them on qualifying, because I am also a supporter. I watched the 2022 World Cup with FC Groningen players in bars as fans. I now really want to play the World Cup myself, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on it in the coming period and just continue to perform well at Feyenoord.”
At the start of the international match, Valente did not know whether he would actually make his debut. “The national coach had not said anything about it. So you always wait in anticipation. It was very nice when I was actually allowed to enter the field. Normally you see these guys playing on TV. They are your role models. Now I was among them.”