Koeman slams on personal errors for the Netherlands’ loss to France

Although the Netherlands finished with 59 percent possession, they suffered a 4-0 defeat to the Qatar 2022 finalists France thanks to goals from Griezmann, Upamecano, and a brace by Mbappe.

Koeman told

:

"I did not take into account that the difference would be so great. I expected more from everyone. The team performance was below average.

"We lost the ball 20 metres from our own goal. That is a place where you should never lose the ball. And then France is, of course, a very good team that is lurking and immediately benefits."

During the game, Memphis Depay missed a penalty shot when the game was still 2-0. Koeman added:

"Memphis lost the ball, but Mbappe of course finishes it off great afterwards. So it was not just us. It was also the class of France.

The Netherlands was without Matthijs de Ligt, Cody Gakpo and Sven Botman due to illness. However, Koeman doesn't accept their absence as excuse.

"Of course the preparation has not been ideal. That has left its mark," he said. "But there have been just too many moments today when we failed.

"We now know where we stand and have learned from this. It can therefore also turn out positively. We are going to learn and improve, including us as technical staff."

Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk added: "

We didn't get there, lost the duels and lost the ball too often. The second goal was a set piece, but the other goals came because we handed them the ball. France has so much quality, they immediately punish that.

"We will analyse the defeat and take a good look at what we can do better, but it is clear we are very disappointed."

Netherlands will host Gibraltar in their second Group B game on Monday.

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