In the early morning of October 15, Beijing time, the fourth round of the UEFA Nations League played a high-profile matchup, with Germany hosting Netherlands. This game is about the battle for the top spot in Group C, and the Germany team lived up to expectations, beating the opponent 1-0 at home, and the Germany team is now 5 points ahead of the Netherlands team, and now there are 2 rounds left, and the Germany team is expected to lock the top spot in the group in advance.
In this game, due to injuries and suspensions, both teams have core players absent, Germany's Musiala did not enter the squad due to injury, while Van Dijk is suspended, neither side takes advantage of anyone. From the start of the game, Germany dominated the attack, and in the first half they pressed the Netherlands into the half. According to statistics, in the first half, 2 teams shot 8-0, and the Netherlands team even had only 1 chance to get the ball in the Germany team's penalty area, such a one-sided situation, which happened in the strong dialogue, is indeed very rare, which shows how embarrassing the performance of the Netherlands team is in this game.
In the second half, Germany, who were constantly squandering their chances, finally broke the deadlock on the pitch, and after the corner kick was cleared, Lewelling followed up with a powerful shot to finally score the only goal of the game to help Germany beat Netherlands 1-0.
The 1-0 undoubtedly humiliated the Netherlands as they set a humiliating record. Since beating Belgium 1-0 at home in September 2022, Netherlands have faced a number of strong teams including Argentina, France, Italy, England and Germany nine times in the past two years, with three draws and six defeats without a win. In the strong dialogue, the Netherlands team's record is so "stable", which is indeed rare.
The defeat to Germany also caused Koeman to suffer overwhelming criticism. Although he led the Netherlands team to the semi-finals of this year's European Championship, this result is not convincing, because the Netherlands team has not beaten any strong team in the European Championship. They can reach the last four, but the schedule is cheap, and if they meet a strong team earlier in the knockout round, the Netherlands may have been out of the tournament long ago.
Of course, the Netherlands team's slump cannot be entirely blamed on Koeman. Today's Netherlands team is facing a serious problem of lack of success. In recent years, there have been few talented stars in the Netherlands, and the likes of De Jong and De Ligt, who emerged a few years ago, have been worn out by injuries and the other have been completely abandoned.
Against Germany, even if Van Dijk was suspended, Coman did not give De Ligt 1 minute of playing time. Ten Hag's Manchester United spent €45 million to bring in De Ligt this summer, and Ten Hag has reused De Ligt this season. Unfortunately, he himself is not contentious, and the Netherlands new signing is almost a big colander on the field, often digging holes for the team. It's no wonder that Coman doesn't like De Ligt anymore. A few years ago, De Ligt was a talented defender who was crazy all over Europe, and now he has been reduced to the point of being a substitute for the national team, which is really sad. In fact, during the European Cup, Coman did not use De Ligt, and I don't know what tendon Ten Hag is missing, he will think that De Ligt is useful to the team, and let Manchester United spend such a high price to bring him in, plus the high-priced introduction has not been very good at scoring in Zirkze, Manchester United will be killed by Ten Hag!