The Dutch Juniors show two faces during the opening of the European Championship: ‘What I am less pleased with is the decline | Dutch football

One goalless draw is not the other. ,,It could just as well have been 3-3”, concluded national coaches Van de Looi and Jacky Mathijsen (Belgium) after the entertaining kick-off of their talents. Although few goals were scored, a bunch of supporters in the beautifully pimped concrete box in the Georgian capital got more than their money’s worth. The derby of the low countries was never boring.

Initially, this was mainly due to the Dutch Juniors, who appeared frivolous and dynamic. In the first half hour, the team of national coach Erwin van de Looi cut through the Belgian defense several times, resulting in excellent opportunities.

Within ten minutes Kenneth Taylor already had the opening goal on the shoe. Devyne Rensch subtly put his teammate away, thanks to the transfer of other Ajax player Brian Brobbey as well. The midfielder thought he had pushed the ball into the far corner, were it not for the fact that he hit the post.

The striker himself, in a promising position, did not hit the ball full and saw Summerville take his shot off the line. In this way, the Juniors not only let the Belgian peers live, but also crawl up. Well, crawling is not really an option with Loïs Openda. With the A-international, the Red Devils had a turbo button in their hands.

This became apparent when the former Vitesse revelation served former PSV player Yorbe Vertessen (he shot over) and even more so when Openda seemed to play out the scenario feared by Van de Looi when Orange captain Quinten Timber held back for a while. A splitting pass from AC Milan talent Charles de Ketelaere later and the lightning-fast Openda had a free run. Bart Verbruggen saved the Dutch talents from falling behind with his hand.

And the debuting Anderlecht keeper, who was preferred over Kjell Scherpen, did that more often after the break. And the reflexes of the Verbruggen linked to Brighton became more and more beautiful. Not yet when a cracked free kick from Hugo Siquet bounced off the crossbar, but when he touched a flaming shot from Michel Ange Balikwisha with his fingertips and then prevented a false start opposite the substitute with an outstretched leg.

Still, the great star did not feel that the Dutch Juniors had escaped. “My feeling is that we lost two points, because we were very dominant before the break and should have scored twice.” Van de Looi largely agreed with this. ,,If you play such a first half, you have to score. I saw really great attacks back then. What I am less pleased with is the decay.”

How could that be explained? Mathijsen saw his team grow when he switched from a formation with two to three strikers. Van de Looi mainly saw a deflating balloon due to a lack of match rhythm. ,,You can see which five or six players have played less this season”, he pointed out earlier this season injured or often passed talents at their club such as Quinten Timber, Rensch and Gravenberch. “The other guys kept it up easily. We will see how quickly the players recover.”

Although the Dutch Juniors often swam after the break, they also had great opportunities for the full spoils with sparse outbreaks. For example, Brobbey found the completely free Taylor and Hartman, who, to their disbelief, failed to hit a target after the sharp counter. The result: disappointment in both dressing rooms. “We are a bit disappointed”, said Antwerp champion Balikwisha of the same emotion as in the Orange camp.

For example, the Orange and Belgium balanced each other at the European Championships in Georgia and Romania. There, departing national coach Van de Looi and his talents are not satisfied with less than gold. Then, however, it will have to be better than after the break, especially with the knowledge that Belgium missed three A-internationals flown in later. Brobbey spoke of mixed feelings and concluded on his Brobbeys: ,,I have every confidence that it will turn out well.”

In the other group match, Young Georgia surprised by beating Young Portugal 2-0. The Portuguese promises were still in the final two years ago at the previous European Championship in Hungary. Germany was too strong in this. The Dutch Juniors will play against Portugal on Saturday and against Georgia on Tuesday. The first two countries from the group qualify for the quarter-finals.