- The Netherlands suffered a 1-0 away defeat by Germany in the Nations League
- Ronald Koeman’s side were without the suspended Virgil van Dijk on Monday
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Former Tottenham star Rafael van der Vaart has aimed a dig at defender Micky van de Ven following the Netherlands’ 1-0 defeat by Germany in the Nations League.
Jamie Leweling scored the only goal of the game on Monday night, with the 23-year-old Stuttgart star enjoying a dream debut for Germany.
Leweling struck in the 64th minute for the hosts at the Allianz Arena, while he had also seen a second minute effort ruled out for offside following poor Dutch defending.
Germany had dominated the first half against the Dutch, who had been forced to alter their defence due to Van Dijk’s suspension after he had been sent off against Hungary on Friday.
Van de Ven had moved centrally to cover for the Liverpool star’s absence, while Jorrel Hato made his debut at left back.
Former Tottenham star Rafael van der Vaart has made a dig at defender Micky van de Ven
Van de Vaart insisted the defender is ‘no Virgil van Dijk’ after the Netherlands lost to Germany
Debutant Jamie Leweling (right) scored the only goal as Germany won 1-0 in Munich
Speaking on NOS, Van de Vaart insisted that the national team were missing the presence of Van Dijk in the heart of the defence.
The outspoken pundit claimed he was ‘ashamed’ of the Netherlands’ performance in the first half against Germany after being dominated by the hosts in Munich.
‘I don’t easily get ashamed of the Dutch team, but today I did,’ Van der Vaart said.
‘We attribute so many qualities to them, but it’s completely wrong. You can analyse it, but everything just goes wrong.
‘Then we have doubts about the absence of Virgil van Dijk, of course you miss him. All well and good, Micky van de Ven, but this is no Van Dijk.’
Van der Vaart, who won 109 caps during his international career, agreed with fellow pundit Pierre van Hooijdonk that the first half had been ‘a total off day for the entire team’.
The former midfielder claimed the Netherlands were ‘lucky the Germans are not 5-0 ahead’ at half-time.
He had also criticised the performance of Quinten Timber, twin brother of Arsenal star Jurrien, by claiming he had seemed ‘colour blind’ after gifting possession to Germany.
A young Dutch side struggled against the hosts in the first half against Germany on Monday
The Netherlands were without captain Van Dijk after he was sent off against Hungary, pictured
Boss Ronald Koeman admitted his side had struggled in the first half against Germany
Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman admitted post-match that his side had struggled against Germany in the first half, but insisted they improved in the second.
‘We were missing players, but that also applied to Germany,’ Koeman said.
‘We were too far back, then you bring it upon yourself. We also did not play well when we had the ball.
‘They were better, faster, more physical. They did better than us on almost all aspects.’
The Netherlands had fielded their youngest team since 2012, with the starting line-up having an average age of under 24.
The defeat leaves the Dutch second in their Nations League group on five points, level with Hungary after four matches.
Germany are assured of advancing to the quarter-finals of the competition.