Jurrien Timber was dropped because of his fitness, yet Depay is somehow untouchable. Despite Koeman admitting he is not fit.
Typical Dutch. that switch to a back 5 and taking off Summerville when he was starting to do dominate the left back? What terrible substitutions.
I wanted Koopmeiners on the pitch....for Gravenberch....What does our brilliant coach...he takes off the one who scares the Japanese defenders, Summerville. Brilliant job
Can't be good for Koeman's respect among the key players for making such imbecil substitutions. Hope Nigel de Jong takes good notice of what happened.
Dunno what those VAR dudes were watching, but the video from behind the goal clearly shows the ball touches the heel of that Japanese player and slightly changed the course of the ball, so a clear cut off side case.
Donkey Koeman strikes again. We had just gone 2-1 up, Summerville and Malen were growing into the game, and Japan looked vulnerable. Six minutes later, Koeman removes Summerville, Malen and Reijnders, takes away nearly all our pace, and clearly decides to protect the lead far too early. Then he takes off Gravenberch, who assisted both goals, for Aké and retreats even deeper. From that point on, Japan pushed us back, we had no real outlet, and the equaliser felt increasingly inevitable. Yes, the goal came from a poorly defended corner and a deflection, but Koeman’s game management invited that pressure. Nobody was asking him to play recklessly. We were asking him not to dismantle an attack that had just put us ahead. Classic Koeman: get the lead, panic, go conservative too early, and surrender the initiative. Japan earned their point. Koeman helped them get it. SMH.
Was it offsides? I didnt even bother to check but that's crazy if it was and wasn't called off - huge error. For the rest insanely bad subs by Koeman. Also very frustrated how many corners and free kicks were ruined by Reijnders. We had so many big players and he undershot (or overshot) it every time.
It may come down to goals difference (how many can you score vs Tunisia) for the missed win opportunity vs Japan.
It wasn't offside, there was a Dutch player, don't know which one, in the left back position who played everyone onside.
Over 4.2 million viewers watch the Netherlands draw against Japan at the World Cup The first match of the Dutch national team at the World Cup was watched by over 4.2 million people on NPO 1 on Sunday evening, according to figures from the National Media Research (NMO). The figures are comparable to the previous World Cup in 2022. Back then, nearly 4.3 million people watched the Dutch team's first match.
Balbezit tot 70ste minuut (eerste wissels Oranje): 🇳🇱 70% - 30% 🇯🇵Balbezit na 70ste minuut:🇳🇱 34% - 66% 🇯🇵— Bart Frouws (@bartf) June 14, 2026
Of all the substitutes, Depay was the worst choice. I can understand the need to sub out Malen who is not a hold up striker. However, you either put in Brobbey or Weghorst if that is the strategy. What you absolutely don't do is bring on a second striker once Depay is already in the game. Would have preferred to see Koopmeiners in MF rather than on the wing. The way the match played out I cannot believe any of the MFs were tired as most of the possession in the Japan half was rather static and they didn't run around all that much. This makes the subs of Gravenberch and Reijnders even more weird. Koeman has proven to be a poor manager at almost every stop along the way. There is even THIS THREAD from back in 2008!!! I just watched the highlights and feel bad for Verbruggen as both goals came off of slight deflections. I did not think his kicking was particularly good.
After Moriyasu’s press conference was seemingly over, his microphone was turned off and his press officer tried to usher him away, he asked to stay on. The microphone was turned on. “Since we have lots of Dutch journalists here today, I’d like to say something else,” he said, speaking in his native language. “I would like to express my gratitude towards Dutch football — as a national team and especially in my case. When we didn’t have a progressional league (in the early 1990s), Hans Ooft came to Japan and was an excellent coach. So many Japanese players trained and developed under him.” Moriyasu was referencing when Ooft had plucked himself, an unheralded midfielder with seemingly no chance of a professional football career, and turned him into a key part of the national side. “There have been so many Dutch players and managers who have contributed to our football,” he continued, largely speaking to a room full of Dutch journalists who, sadly, hadn’t bothered to listen in on the translation. But it was a fitting final note, at the end of a game with a genuine feel-good vibe. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7361010/2026/06/14/netherlands-japan-world-cup-style-approach/ Globalisation and Globalists = death of Dutch football, the death of Holland as a country.
With Sweden starting strongly with a 5-1 v. Tunisia, the pressure is now on Oranje to get a “W” on the next game v. Sweden, as a draw would make them chasing goal difference on the final day v. Tunisia (reportedly sacked their coach during the World Cup, after losing their first game ). I could see a three-way tie in the group between Oranje, Japan and Sweden.... with all three beating Tunisia.
I thought this was a misprint: Spain vs Cape Verde 0 - 0; FT Spain had 27 shots on goal but could score once. Bizarre.
I am not surprised anymore after watching Turkey Australia. Both games have possession at 62%-27/28%. It is the logical choice for the weaker team to defend with all players and take chance with counter attack, leaving it to execution and luck. In the knock out it may happen again hence strong team needs to be clinical or practice/execute penalties well. Australia Turkey Spain Cape Verde Just like Euro expansion some quality will be lost, but more countries are involved and of course the marketing/ad (hydration break even the stadium is air-con, what a ridiculous idea as the momentum will be lost likely for one team and manager will use it to adjust, which "some managers" are not able to take advantage of) will bring more money. I don't think it is a joke that FIFA will seriously consider to expand to 64 teams then you will have top 2 from 16 groups advance to the round of 32 (no more 3rd place team), not because of that joke so that Italy can participate.