Ibrahim Ayyub gives his opinion on what little went right and what plenty went wrong during Netherlands penalty shootout elimination by Morocco.
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Well, the Oranje’s quest for the elusive World Cup continues. Although expectations were low, being eliminated after four matches for the first time since the 2006 World Cup was not expected. Ronald Koeman is gone and the KNVB will have to find someone to lead these players.
Apologies for the delay, but it took some time getting over this loss. I just left Mexico and got home in time to watch the Oranje take on Morocco and be heart broken once again. The economist Joachim Klement had predicted that the Netherlands were going to win the World Cup. Clearly, he never watched the Oranje play under Koeman when he made that prediction. Hope he does better with his day job.
THE GOOD
Not much good to write about after a disappointing frustrating elimination from the World Cup. Crysencio Summerville’s hustle and not giving up by assisting on the opening goal was admirable. Cody Gakpo scoring to give the Oranje the lead, after the tragic news of losing his unborn son, was a positive moment for all. Other than that, the only other good thing was the departure of Ronald Koeman after this result. Hopefully the next manager will do better than Koeman whose record during his second stint was disappointing despite getting to the semifinals of UEFA Euro 2024. Zero wins against top 25 teams during Koeman’s second stint is shambolic.
THE BAD
The mental lapses by the defenders continued to be an issue. The Oranje had the lead and just needed to set up shop and protect the lead. However, they failed to show that they learned from their opener against Japan and conceded late yet again. Captain flatfoot, Virgil van Dijk failed to hop and head the ball and Morocco equalized in stoppage time. As the saying goes, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. Speaking of history, the Oranje now have the distinction of being the first nation to be eliminated in a World Cup Final, Semi-Final, Quarter-Final, Round of 16 and now, the Round of 32.
Along with the stoppage time brain fart, those penalties were bad. I am not a fan of this trend of slow stepping, tap dancing penalty taking approach. Why not enjoy a Stroopwafel with a sip of coffee before you complete the penalty. Just run and blast the ball in, which Ronaldo Koeman was famous for. You would expect him to drill that into his players. Instead, we got to witness that spectacle. Justin Kluivert scored three penalties in one match for his club, but saw his effort strike the post and it was hard not to feel deflated. It was also hard not to be reminded of his father Patrick Kluivert missing his penalty against Italy in Euro 2000.
THE UGLY
Penalty Shootouts are horrible because someone ends up being the villain. Not this time! There were many villains to choose from after this performance. From Koeman and his coaching to Virgil and his brain fart and those three poorly taken penalties. The overall performance was just ugly. Cowardly football tactics from Ronald Koeman where the Oranje surrendered possession to Morocco in an elimination game. They had 30% possession against Morocco. 30%!!! Scotland had 40% of possession against Morocco and the mighty Dutch could not best that. To call this performance shameful is putting it mildly. Koeman had one bright moment in this whole game, which was bringing on Wout Weghorst and to play long balls to him. It worked when it resulted in Gakpo’s goal. Other than that, Koeman lacked any positive ideas to go with that awful back five idea.
Playing for penalties was a bad strategy. Sure, you look like a genius when it works. However, when it doesn’t work, it leads to more second guessing and afterwards, Koeman said he would not have changed a thing if he could do it again. Of course, the fact that the Netherlands have a poor record in shootouts, only winning two of out their ten shootouts, is another reason to second guess Koeman. The Oranje have been eliminated in a World Cup by a penalty shootout in 1998, 2014, 2022 and now, 2026.
The Koeman era is over and now, the KNVB president Frank Paauw and KNVB Technical Director Nigel de Jong will have to choose Koeman’s successor. They need to show ambition and not just settle for who is Dutch and is available. Aim higher. Pep Guardiola is available, so why not approach him? Unfortunately, we will expect them to decide between the available Arne Slot or Erik ten Hag. It’s as predictable as watching the Oranje play the past few years.
Enjoy the rest of the tournament and stay hydrated during these water breaks. Good luck with completing your Panini stickers albums and get ready for the UEFA Nations League and Euro 2028. Hopefully, these competitions will help this nation prepare them to finally end their quest for the World Cup.
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