Head coach Ronald Koeman has said he will consider his position “from tomorrow” after the Netherlands’ men’s team went out of the World Cup on penalties to Morocco.
Oranje came within minutes of a win in Monterrey that would have been thoroughly undeserved after Cody Gakpo put them ahead in the 71st minute from a rare breakaway.
Morocco, who had 12 shots to seven by the Dutch and made twice as many passes, equalised in injury time when centre-back Issa Diop headed in from close range.
Goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen produced an outstanding save from Soufaine Rahmini to keep the Dutch in the match in extra time, but Oranje extended their miserable record in penalty shoot-outs to go out.
Justin Kluivert and Quinten Timber both missed the target while Crysencio Summerville’s effort was saved, allowing PSV Eindhoven striker Ismael Saibari to step up and send his country through to a last 16 tie against Canada.
Defensive formation
Koeman defended his switch to a more defensive formation than he had used in the group matches, where the Dutch had scored 10 goals and attracted admirers for their flowing, attacking football.
“I don’t regret it,” he told NOS. “If I could have my time again, I would do the same thing. We chose to play this way because we gave away too much in the previous three matches.”
“You can close your eyes to that and carry on in the same way, but I think that it’s the coach’s job to change things.”
“Of course there were things that could have gone better in the game, moments where I saw we were maybe dropping too deep, but we also had moments when we defended very well against a good team.”
He added he would start thinking about his future as national team coach once he had digested the result. “Maybe I’ll make a decision by tomorrow afternoon. Right now I’m too disappointed,” he said.
Verbruggen saves
Koeman chose a five-man defence, with Tijjani Reijnders dropping out of midfield to make space for Nathan Aké at left back, while Crysencio Summerville replaced Donyell Malen in the forward line.
Oranje dominated possession in the first half but created little in the way of attacking threat in a bruising first half, while Bart Verbruggen produced two fine saves in a minute from a corner and a shot by Achraf Hakimi.
The closest the Dutch came to scoring in a gritty first half was a long-range drive from Micky van de Ven that Yassine Bounou tipped over the crossbar. But with Frenkie de Jong isolated in midfield, the forward line of Cody Gakpo, Brian Brobbey and Summerville were barely able to get into the game.
Hakimi dangerous
After the break Morocco moved forward with more purpose and took control of the game as the Dutch players stopped pressing and retreated into their own half.
Hakimi shot against the crossbar from close range after Verbruggen had narrowed the angle and was denied again by an alert interception from Van de Ven.
Oranje’s goal came straight after the second-half drinks break and entirely against the run of play, after Koeman had abandoned the five-man defence and brought on Wout Weghorst to replace Brobbey.
Weghorst had an immediate impact, flicking on a header for Summerville to run onto. The winger appeared to be brought down but Gakpo was alert to the loose ball and stroked it into the net past the advancing Bounou.
Late equaliser
The Dutch looked like they were holding on after Virgil van Dijk produced a brilliant tackle to stop Saibari after the striker had skipped away from Jan Paul van Hecke. But as the clock ticked past 90 minutes, substitute Chemsdine Talbi swung in a cross from the left and Diop outjumped Van Dijk to head in his first international goal.
In extra time Verbruggen was once again the saviour of Oranje when Rahmini collected the ball unmarked in the penalty area, but his shot hit the oustretched leg of the goalkeeper.
Morocco made a poor start to the penalty series when Azzedine Ounahi struck the crossbar and Verbruggen was desperately unlucky with Rahmini’s kick. He dived the right way but the ball crept under his body and went in off the back of his heel.
Kluivert struck the base of the post and Timber dragged a soft kick wide, but the Dutch were kept in the contest by Hakimi’s miss. But Bounou managed to punch out Summerville’s high kick, allowing Saibari to send his team through with the best penalty of the series.
