The Netherlands coach praised the Spanish team and confessed that in the second half he was paying attention to France-Germany
MADRID, 24 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Netherlands women’s national coach, Andries Jonker, recognized the superiority of Spain this Friday in the semifinal of the Nations League (3-0), a team that demonstrated that it is “the best team in the world”, while confessing that the ‘Oranje’ had to think about their Olympic option looking at the other semi-final between France and Germany.
“The key has been in the first half, in the game in Spain’s position. We have done everything to defend well but we were not able to put pressure on the ball. We ran and ran. Spain was better than us in the first half. The speed of the ball has been very high and we have always arrived late,” he confessed in statements to TVE, reported by Europa Press.
The Dutch coach regretted the two goals before the break that put Spain clearly on the path to the final of the Nations League and the ticket to Paris 2024. “I was very happy with the 0-0. The 1-0 could happen, but 2-0 was already very complicated,” he said.
“All the players want to receive the ball and they can all play football, all technically and physically good, with good eyesight. There are no weaker players. It is a very good team, clearly the best in the world,” he added about Spain.
On the other hand, Jonker confessed that, knowing that France was winning the other semifinal, they thought about competing for third and fourth place against Germany, since the other ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be at stake.
“We made changes in the second half knowing that France was 2-0, thinking that on Wednesday we had to win. In the second half we were more with France-Germany than with our game,” he concluded.