Frenkie de Jong bridges doubts with Veerman's flawless cooperation

The doubts were swept away on Friday evening in the Johan Cruyff Arena.

The Netherlands steamrolled over the Greeks and were already 5‑0 at half‑time.

Frenkie de Jong often dropped deep into the back line to create the play, while Jurriën Timber, officially a left‑back, acted as an extra attacking midfielder.

Collaboration and Tactics

‘That structure gave the Greeks trouble; whether they were surprised I don’t know, but they struggled throughout the whole first half’, said captain De Jong.

‘The execution was good, I got a lot of ball contact, could shape the build‑up, and the cooperation with Joey Veerman was top’, he added.

Until Friday, De Jong and Veerman had only worked together for fourteen minutes in the Dutch side.

After Euro 2024, the Borussia Dortmund midfielder disappeared from the Dutch national team.

‘The quality of the ball play was good, the choices were right; that created a flow and we understood each other on the pitch’, De Jong explained.

‘We played in between, enjoyed the football; Joey and I know where we want to receive the ball and how, we both love getting to the ball, the connection is automatic’, he said.

‘It went extremely well, although we have hardly ever played together; it’s quite late considering our football ages’, concluded De Jong.