POLAND
1
HOLLAND
2
POLAND (3-5-2): Szczesny 7, Bednarek 6, Salamon 6.5 (41′ st Bereszynski sv), Kiwior 5.5; Frankowski 6, Szymanski 5.5 (1′ st Moder 5.5), Zielinski 6.5 (33′ st Piotrowski 6.5), Romanczuk 6 (10′ st Slisz 5.5), Zalewski 5.5; Urbanski 5.5 (10′ st Świderski 6), Buksa 6.5. All. Probierz 6.
HOLLAND (4-3-3): Verbruggen 6.5, Dumfries 6, De Vrij 6.5, Van Dijk 6.5, Aké 6.5 (41′ st Van de Ven sv); Schouten 6, Reijnders 6, Veerman 6 (17′ st Wijnaldum 6); Xavi Simons 5.5 (17′ st Malen 6), Depay 5.5 (36′ st Frimpong sv), Gakpo 6.5 (36′ st Weghorst 7). All. Koeman 7.
Referee: Soares Dias 6.
Goals: 16′ pt Buska (P), 29′ pt Gakpo (O), 39′ st Weghorst (O).
Notes: Veerman (O) booked. Corners: 6-3 for the Netherlands. Recovery time: 1′ and 5′.
OIanda wins with merit, Poland leaves the field with their heads held high. The final 2-1 is in fact the result of a greater number of opportunities created by the Dutch and largely blocked by Szczesny, but the red and whites are punished by the two goals with just as many deviations. The first from Romanczuk on Gakpo’s conclusion from the edge, a touch that completely displaces the Juventus goalkeeper. Bednarek’s second a few minutes from the end, to adjust a trajectory that would otherwise have been less convenient for Weghorst to deflect into the net, a winning move by Koeman from the bench. In fact, it was Poland who went through first with one of the house specialties, free kicks, on the occasion perfectly delivered by Zielinski onto the head of Buksa, who was more ready than Dumfries for the aerial deflection. The striker has a thankless role, replacing the absent Lewandowski, on the bench for appearance only and busy recovering in view of the second match of the group against Austria next Friday.
Already underdogs, Probierz’s team plays with the lightness of an underdog. He retreats, entrusts a good portion of his hopes to Szczesny and after a quarter of an hour of initial suffering he strikes with the first thrust. The equalizer arrives soon and is an act of justice, although supported by a certain amount of luck. The script remains more or less the same in the rest of the match, but the Netherlands is always forced to watch their backs, both because they lack precision up front (4 shots on target out of 21 total) and because on the contrary their opponents often hit their shots. three poles as they advance. Koeman has courage, he takes away Depay and Gakpo, the second of whom is one of the most alive. He is right, in fact, because one of the two boys chosen among the initial reserves solves the match, after repeated attempts with the Inter player Dumfries often protagonist: he always gets to the ball, but is not lucky in the last decision, assist or shot be it . Probierz himself makes a surprising choice, removing captain Zielinski (among the best) and inserting Piotrowski. He takes it too, even though he doesn’t collect it, because in the end the substitute eats up Reijnders and serves the equalizer to Swiderski, which is defused by Verbruggen in the corner.
