Young Orange national coach Erwin van de Looi considers the second group match at the European Championship in Georgia against Portugal, Friday evening at 8 p.m., to be ‘crucial’ for both teams. The opponent’s weaknesses? “I don’t think I have to share it yet”, defender Micky van de Ven joked at the press conference.
The Dutch U21s kicked off the European Championship in Tbilisi with an entertaining 0-0 against Young Belgium. Elsewhere in the capital, a resounding surprise took place: host country Georgia was 2-0 too strong for Portugal, which was in the final two years ago.
As a result, both countries can hardly afford a defeat, says Van de Looi: ,,I think this match is crucial for both teams. If you lose, it might be over. We also know the Portuguese from the qualifying series two years ago. It was not good against Georgia, but we know that they can do much better and that we should not underestimate them.”
Whether the national coach will do that with the same base team remains to be seen. Van de Looi pointed to the physical condition of a handful of players who played less last season – due to a reserve role or injuries – as the reason for the decline in the opening game. The Dutch Juniors came out strong against the Belgians before the break, but escaped after the break, when several players also suffered from cramps, thanks to keeper Bart Verbruggen.
“We are going to train like this. Then we’re going to look at the fitness and put it down as well. I have of course already seen the boys in the past few days. Not one player will immediately say that he is tired. Everyone is eager to start and looking forward to the next game. I also think that most of them have recovered well,” said Van de Looi.
From Ven
Who will play anyway is Micky van de Ven. The vice-captain of the Dutch Juniors missed only one game against Wolfsburg last season due to a suspension. The other 33 Bundesliga games filled the basket from start to finish.
Van de Ven knows that the Dutch Juniors have been given extra warning by the surprising defeat of Young Portugal. ,,They feel a bit of pressure, because they really need the three points. It is a strong team, with a lot of quality on the ball and who play well together. Their weaknesses? I don’t think I have to share them here with the outside world, but we have analyzed them and hope to benefit from it.”
In previous football squatters between the two countries, things were often tough. Van de Looi thinks it is in the nature of the Portuguese to try to win the points with foul play now and then. “I expect the same tomorrow. And that’s part of it. It’s their own culture. They have also grown big with it and achieved excellent performances with it. Moreover, they link it to good football.”
,,We are slightly different in that, not so good at it either”, continues Van de Looi. “We focus more on football. We don’t have a naive group of players. If I just look at this boy next to me (Van de Ven) who has played almost everything in the Bundesliga, we have many players who have become wiser abroad. I am curious about that and I am also confident that we can arm ourselves against it – if necessary.”
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