Netherlands Top Group F, Set for Morocco Showdown After Tunisia Victory

The Oranje bus had better get a move on. A comfortable victory over Tunisia after being sent on their way by a record-equalling 12th own goal of the tournament and further strikes from Brian Brobbey and Jan Paul van Hecke sealed top spot in Group F for the Netherlands ahead of Japan.

Their prize is avoiding a meeting with Brazil in the last 32, with Ronald Koeman’s side now set for a mouthwatering showdown with Morocco in Monterrey instead. Having arrived in southern Texas almost a month ago and already taken in games in Dallas, Houston and Kansas City, the specially converted double decker that has become a fixture at recent major tournaments now faces a journey of more than 1,000 miles before Monday’s game in northern Mexico. It is a challenge that Koeman is clearly wary of.

“At some point we got too comfortable but it won’t happen in the next match,” said the Netherlands manager, whose side will stay at their training base in Kansas until 24 hours before they face Morocco. “It will be a big game with a lot of quality and we know them very well because many of their squad members play in the Eredivisie. There’s always room for improvement and we will need to improve if we are going to go further in this competition.”

Numbers for the Dutch supporters’ traditional march to the stadium earlier in the day had been swelled by thousands of Kansas City locals who usually avoid wearing anything orange because it’s the colour of the Chiefs’ NFL rivals the Denver Broncos but had made an exception for one day only. Torrential rain and lightning storms brought an early end to the pre-match festivities as the fanzone had to be closed as a shelter-in-place order was issued at the venue usually known as the Arrowhead Stadium. That was lifted an hour before kick-off as the threat of more thunder and lightning fortunately dissipated, although the exposed bowl meant ponchos were still required to combat the elements during the second half.

Koeman defended Frenkie de Jong from a media backlash after he responded to criticism by saying “in reality, many people don’t understand football” after their 5-1 thrashing of Sweden in the last match. Despite some injury concerns, the Barcelona midfielder ran the show again after he was included in a virtually full-strength side only missing Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven and Crysencio Summerville after both picked up yellow cards in previous matches.

Hervé Renard was watching the World Cup on holiday in Senegal when he got the call to replace Sabri Lamouchi following Tunisia’s 5-1 thrashing in their opener against Sweden. This was the Frenchman’s 145th game as an international manager having previously taken charge of five different African countries, including two stints in charge of Zambia. The dashing 57-year-old who was in charge of Saudi Arabia when they shocked Argentina at the last World Cup hinted beforehand that he could be tempted to stay with the Carthage Eagles beyond this tournament because “I missed Africa”.

Renard may have second thoughts after the way his side defended in the first 10 minutes. They should have been ahead inside 70 seconds when Ismaël Gharbi – one of four changes from their 4-0 hammering against Japan – spurned a brilliant opportunity inside the Dutch area from Hazem Mastouri’s pass. “We weren’t good enough,” was Renard’s honest assessment​.

The Netherlands went ahead less than a minute later when Ellyes Skhiri comically diverted a dangerous cross from Denzel Dumfries past his own goalkeeper to equal the mark set in Qatar four years ago before the group stages have even been completed. Brobbey doubled the lead when an unmarked Virgil van Dijk picked out the similarly undetected Sunderland striker from a free-kick.

The small number of Tunisia fans inside the stadium must have feared the worst at that point. But their side could have been back in it if Norwich’s Anis Ben Slimane had directed his header a yard either side of Bart Verbruggen.

With Japan being held by Sweden at half-time, the Netherlands could be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas. Dumfries almost had a third at the start of the second half when his goalbound volley was blocked.

But Mastouri’s header from Hannibal Mejbri’s corner was followed by news that Daezen Maeda had given Japan the lead in Dallas. Any nerves were swiftly followed by Van Hecke’s header from a corner to respire the two-goal cushion, with cheers greeting Anthony Elanga’s equaliser for Sweden when the score was flashed up on the big screen.

A delightful chip from Tijjani Reijnders that struck the crossbar would have put the icing on the cake for the Netherlands before the substitute Memphis Depay almost connected with a spectacular acrobatic effort late on. But Koeman knows that a battle-hardened Morocco will present a much stiffer test than sorry Tunisia, who head home with a goal difference of minus 10.