Netherlands 'appalling' in Austria Euros defeat, admits Koeman

BERLIN - Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman hammered his team for their performance in a 3-2 defeat by Austria at Euro 2024 on Tuesday that left them with third place in Group D.

Austria won the section ahead of France but the Netherlands were already guaranteed to qualify for the last 16, doing so as one of the four best third-place sides after crumbling in Berlin.

The Dutch beat Poland in their opening fixture before a goalless draw against tournament favourites France, but underwhelmed in the German capital against Ralf Rangnick's well-drilled outfit.

"The France match went reasonably well, taking into account the outcome, we played rather well as a team (but) today the performance was appalling," Koeman told reporters.

"People played poorly in certain aspects... we have to track our opponents and that's not what happened."

Koeman said his team made a catalogue of errors against Austria, who took an early lead through Donyell Malen's own goal.

Cody Gakpo equalised and after Romano Schmid struck for Austria, Memphis Depay pulled the Dutch back level again, but Marcel Sabitzer then lashed home the winner in the 80th minute.

"I can list quite a few (mistakes)," continued Koeman.

"We started very badly in many aspects. We did not defend well. There were many openings for the opponent.

"We were not aggressive. We lost the ball as well, particularly at the start. We were really very bad." - AFP