Verheijen: “Letting a country play with a B-team is a big mistake. Why would you want to break the rhythm of the players? This always has a negative effect. Also on the brain. It turned out, because all the teams that did during that European Championship, were eliminated in the subsequent round. “
A few days before the game against Russia, the Orange suffered a heavy mental blow. Defender Khalid Boulahrouz’s pregnant wife was admitted to hospital in Lausanne. Their daughter was born that day, three months early. The girl died shortly after birth.
Amateurish
“That is of course a very painful story,” says Verheijen. “But the staff of the Dutch national team has managed that completely amateurishly. That sounds harsh, because someone has died, but when players go to the hospital, football is no longer important. Although from a human point of view it is of course very empathetic . “
“When I spoke to a number of Orange players during the warm-up, I already noticed that their attention was not in the game. Although I can not say whether that was due to the previous good results or everything around Boulahrouz.”
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