Tiny Gibraltar may very well be in for a response on Monday once they journey to Rotterdam to face the Netherlands, who had been humiliated in France on Friday firstly of their Euro 2024 qualifying marketing campaign.
Coach Ronald Koeman says he shall be in search of his gamers’ response to their subsequent qualifier after their aspect suffered a 4-0 thrashing of their opening Group B match on the Stade de France.
The Dutch, lacking 5 gamers after being ravaged by a viral an infection, received off to a poor begin as Les Bleus broke the impasse after two minutes, and had been off to their worst begin in a match since 1919. Were 3–0 down on 22 minutes. ,
The Dutch subsequent meet Gibraltar in Rotterdam on Monday the place they’ll hope to win, however the place Koeman now needs extra from his gamers.
“I now count on a response on Monday. The gamers additionally know the place we went fallacious. I feel it might solely work positively, that everybody is aware of the place we stand.”
Of Friday’s match in Paris, Koeman mentioned: “I anticipated greater than everybody. It was a crew effort that was under common and once more towards an excellent opponent.
“The gap between the two sides was huge and I didn’t expect it. The virus has left its mark, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse. We ourselves have failed. We have to learn from it.”
It was the primary recreation again in cost for Koeman in his second spell as Dutch coach, having changed Louis van Gaal on the finish of the yr.
The Dutch at the moment are ready to see if 5 gamers despatched off on Thursday after contracting the flu can get better to play towards Gibraltar, amongst them Liverpool striker Cody Gakpo.
Gibraltar have misplaced their final seven aggressive away video games, conceding 33 targets within the course of. They began their Group B marketing campaign with a 3-0 residence defeat to Greece on Friday.
Gibraltar had been in the identical World Cup qualifying group with the Netherlands for the 2022 finals in Qatar, dropping 7–0 at residence and 6–0 in Rotterdam.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
