Astonishment over national coach Ronald Koeman's substitutions for Oranje: 'He brought it upon himself'

Oranje took the lead in the 64th minute with a brilliant goal from Crysencio Summerville. However, Koeman then completely reshuffled his plan with three substitutions: Quinten Timber, Teun Koopmeiners, and Memphis Depay were brought on. "I didn't understand the substitutions," stated Kieft on NOS. "With those changes, Koeman brought the equalizer upon himself. The way he tried to kill the game off, I found quite remarkable."

Former top footballer Rafael van der Vaart noted that Oranje was steadily improving, especially the attackers who were finding their rhythm. "In the second half, it finally started to click. Gakpo, Malen, and Summerville were playing better and better. Then they score to make it 2-1, and then they retreat. Koeman suddenly intervenes and starts playing extremely defensively. That's asking for trouble."

Former international Pierre van Hooijdonk echoed his fellow pundits' sentiments. "If there are no injuries, I find it quite strange to drop back. You lose your attacking threat because he took all the pace out of the team," the former footballer added. Van Hooijdonk did observe that Koeman tried to rectify his own mistake. "He brought Brobbey on later, because with Memphis, you were playing even further away from their penalty area," he concluded.

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