At Teun Koopmeiners, after the stunt in the Europa League duel with Napoli, confirmation of the strength of the Alkmaarders dominates. The team of coach Arne Slot won on Thursday thanks to a goal by Dani de Wit 0-1 in Italy.
“It is nice when you finally hold the lead for once,” said Koopmeiners RTL in the four draws in a row in the Eredivisie. “This feels like a confirmation of our ability.”
AZ is still waiting for the first victory in the Eredivisie and recently handed over the victory against VVV-Venlo (2-2), Sparta Rotterdam (4-4) and Fortuna Sittard (3-3). The team held its own against Napoli.
“We know it is in it, but we have just seen the other side of the coin”, Koopmeiners said. “We were very disappointed about that, because it was unnecessary.”
“At the same time, we have not made those draws any bigger than they are. We have played very good football and maybe even better than last year. Then it is very nice that we achieve such a result.”
––
–
–
AZ celebrates the decisive goal of Dani de Wit. (Photo: Pro Shots)
‘This group does not look up to other teams’
Napoli has started the Serie A season with three resounding victories this season. Coach Gennaro Gattuso’s lone defeat was a regulatory 3-0 against Juventus, as ‘I Partenopei’ did not show up for the game in Turin due to multiple infections.
Despite this, AZ, which missed no fewer than thirteen players due to corona infections, had no respect for Napoli. “We have a group that does not look up to other teams. This is one of the biggest competitors in the group. It is fantastic that we get three points there”, Koopmeiners concluded.
AZ will continue the group stage of the Europa League next Thursday with a home game against the Croatian HNK Rijeka, which lost 0-1 to Real Sociedad at the last minute.
View the results, the standings and the program in the Europa League
– .
:quality(80)/cdn-kiosk-api.telegraaf.nl/e0acfe36-14aa-11eb-9dd5-0218eaf05005.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)
