Ronald Koeman after missing out on the Nations League final: ‘No 3 in the world for nothing’ | Orange

The Orange took a 1-0 lead through Donyell Malen in the first half, but Croatia turned the game around after the break. Deep in injury time, Noa Lang made sure that extra time was needed to determine a winner with a great goal, but star player Luka Modric’s team was a size too big in that extra time.

“I thought we didn’t come out of the locker room well. I thought the first half was more than fine, 1-0 up. After rest I found it less. Croatia’s midfield took control and then we got into trouble,” says Koeman afterwards at the NOS. “Then you get a penalty. Clumsy and not good from Cody Gakpo, because you are never allowed to turn there. We had a hard time at that moment and you can see that they have been playing together for a long time.”

Koeman continues: ,,They are number 3 in the world for a reason, they showed that tonight. We put pressure on when we could, but we also got a bit sloppy at certain times. We fought and tried everything in extra time to make as offensive an exchange as possible. Only they were better in extra time.”

The bright spot was Lang’s raid, who made it 2-2. ,,I already spoke to Noa in March, when he was not part of the selection and I called him to explain why. Many cards, a bit of behavior on the field, I have now spoken to him about that again. Whenever he is with the Dutch national team, I hear that he behaves perfectly and trains well. He can also play football and scores a nice goal.”

But the man of the match was Modric, who probably played his penultimate international match. After his substitution and standing ovation from De Kuip, Koeman spoke briefly with the Real Madrid player. ,,I said to him: great match, congratulations. Because when you are 37 and you still play so well and so firmly on the ball for 120 minutes, that deserves a round of applause.”

For the Orange squad, a duel for bronze against Spain or Italy remains on Sunday. No grand final in De Kuip, but a consolation final in Enschede. “I have seen improvements today, such as the energy and an almost new midfield. We will continue with that. The result is negative, which predominates. But you shouldn’t close your eyes to things that went well.”

Whether Koeman will give players a rest on Sunday, he does not yet know. “I have not thought about that. We still have four days until Sunday, so we will see who is ready and who is not.”