Jan Paul van Hecke makes his starting debut for the Dutch national team against Hungary. National coach Ronald Koeman explained before the Nations League match that he chose the Zeeuw because of his qualities on the ball.
Van Hecke made his debut for the Dutch team two months ago as a substitute and will play his second international match on Saturday evening. He is preferred over Stefan de Vrij and Matthijs de Ligt. “You always have an idea of what you expect from a match,” Koeman said at NOS. ‘We assume that Hungary wants to do the same as last time, so that they will drop far back. The better you build up, the better it is.’
“And I think Jan Paul is very good at that,” Koeman continued his explanation for letting Van Hecke start. ‘That also has to do with how he plays at his club (Brighton & Hove Albion, ed.). When you have so many good central defenders, you can sometimes make decisions based on details. I think the possession part is very important now and Jean-Paul is the best at that.’
Koeman opts for Wout Weghorst in the striker role against Hungary. “You will sometimes have to play a little more opportunistically,” the national coach predicted. ‘It can’t always be done on the ground. With Wout we have someone in the sixteen who is tall and strong. That was the decisive reason for choosing Wout today.’
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