Michael Traveler’s team was convincing on the ball and scored three excellent goals, which won 3-0 from Ivory Coast, but was also defensively vulnerable against the African opponent, while several very large personal mistakes were made.
Question marks with long undefeated Juniors
Although the Dutch Juniors have already been undefeated ten duels in a row and has finished a clear European Championship qualification, there are certainly the necessary question marks when it comes to the opportunities of this generation to deliver the Netherlands to the Under 21 Lighting, something that was last succeeded in 2007. Those doubts were not removed in the practice game in the Euroborg, for which Groningen and Ommelanden had finished en masse with 18,500 spectators. A record for a practice or qualification match of the Dutch Juniors on Dutch soil.
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Setting the pressure looked good and at times there was flashy combination football, but incomprehensible mistakes by Ezechiel Banzuzi and goalkeeper Rome-Jayden Owusu were not punished by IvorOrkust. The midfielder attracted by RB Leipzig once suffered a loss of the ball with a pass before the goal, while the AZ goalie wasted the ball twice with sloppiness in the football balls.
Pupils
These are pupil errors in the group stage, in which the peers of Finland, Denmark and Ukraine are the opponents, perhaps not yet ruthlessly punished, but certainly in the knockout phase by possible opponents such as France, Germany, England and Spain. Another point of attention is the interpretation of the rush -hour position, because in the first half, when the intended basis played, Noah Ohio did not come out of that place. The striker of FC Utrecht has had a good qualification, it has not been able to break pots at his club and after the winter break mainly in the shadow of Sébastien Haller acted.
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Traveler could not take on his intended base team in the Euroborg. Ian Maatsen was not available due to illness, while Jorrel Hato is first active in Finland with the big orange before joining the Dutch Juniors. In the absence of Maatsen and Hato, two of the four Juniors players with experience in the Dutch national team, base places were reserved for Neraysho Kasanwirjo and Bjorn Meijer.
Threatening Kenneth Taylor and Million Manhoef
Groningen took the breath when Owusu-Oduro almost gave away a goal after a few seconds, when he popped a short play ball by Banzuzi against a player of Ivory Coast. After Ivory Coast had first hit the bar, the Dutch Juniors got better, in which two players in particular caused a threat. Ajax midfielder Kenneth Taylor, who already has five A-matches behind his name, constantly put danger with Rushes, while the most dangerous Orange customer was Stoke City striker Million Manhoef.
The former player of Vitesse was very pure on the ball and stood at the basis of the opening goal of Devyne Rensch (1-0) with a viewed ball. In the 36th minute, Manhoef made it 2-0 by shooting a ball in the short corner. After the break there was a completely different young Orange, because the traveler brought in the complete reserve bench, which meant that nine new names appeared on the field. The Groningen public welcomed the invaders Thom van Bergen and Luciano Valente, in daily life players of FC Groningen, passionately. Valente brightened his raid with the 3-0.