France dominated the eleven for long periods, Kylian Mbappé scored a brace (7th, 53rd). The Netherlands could only reduce the score to 1:2 through debutant Quilindschy Hartman (83′).
While France is through and superstar Mbappé has impressively shot his way out of the club crisis at PSG, an injury-plagued, anxious Oranje team has to seriously worry about participating in the European Championship.
Three things that stood out in Amsterdam.
1.) Magical Mbappé shoots his way out of the crisis
Kylian Mbappé has been waiting for a goal for Paris Saint-Germain for four games – an unusually long dry spell for the notorious goalscorer. PSG’s rollercoaster season is primarily attributed to him. And yes – Mbappé missed some great opportunities recently.
The change in air was obviously good for him, because things broke in the national team. He acrobatically completed an outstanding French attack on the right side with several direct passes at the penalty point to make it 0-1.
A few minutes after the restart, Mbappé shot the ball from the left corner of the penalty area into the right gable. After the goals, he raised both index fingers to the sky in memory of a family member who died last week. With 42 goals for Les Bleus, Mbappé overtook France legend Michel Platini (41). Shortly before the end, the 24-year-old hit the crossbar with his weaker left foot. Mbappé magic in Amsterdam.
Apart from his shots, the attacker showed joy in the game and was not above playing defense. An all-round successful performance.
“Kylian was very good, as always when he plays for France,” said national coach Didier Deschamps about his number ten’s performance.
2.) Anxious Dutch are no benchmark for France
Cody Gakpo, Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Mark Flekken – the Elftal had to replace four pillars due to injuries against Mbappé and Co. of all people. This could not be compensated for by the Oranje team, led by captain Virgil van Dijk.
In the first half hour the Dutch were just running alongside or behind. After a short phase of rebellion with two dangerous shots on goal, Bond coach Ronald Koeman’s team fell back into their old patterns after the 2-0 defeat at the latest.
The Netherlands endured the game anxiously and at times disembodied. In the second half the game was friendly. Hartman’s goal, which seemed to appear out of nowhere, woke the audience up again, but nothing more jumped out at it.
Before the eyes of the spectators Frank Rijkaard, Marco van Basten and Clarence Seedorf – all legends of Dutch football – a difference in class between the two teams could be seen. This national team is a far cry from the highly praised “Voetbal total” of past generations.
No chance against France: Virgil van Dijk (l.) and Denzel Dumfries
Photo credit: Getty Images
3.) France’s boss is not called Mbappé, but Griezmann
Double goalscorer Mbappé wears the armband and leads the team onto the field, but the boss on the field is someone else. Since national coach Didier Deschamps placed Antoine Griezmann in the eighth position starting with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the trained striker has been the linchpin of the French game.
Griezmann fills this role with his game intelligence and technique like no other. At one moment he seems to sneak along the right wing, seemingly uninvolved, only to steal the ball the next moment and send his front men Kingsley Coman, Randal Kolo Muani and Mbappé deep with passes. Against the Netherlands he had by far the most shots on goal (5) and won almost 60 percent of his duels.
It feels like he’s constantly moving into the right spaces and covering the entire center – defensively and offensively. Griezmann on the eight is a bit of Luka Modric, a bit of Toni Kroos and a bit of Seedorf. Coupled with his elegance there is also a bit of Zinédine Zidane.
Gosens praises Nagelsmann: “Brings new fire”