Netherlands national team coach Erwin van de Looy was wary of the little devils during his press conference on Tuesday. Belgium and the Netherlands will face each other in their opening match at the European Under-21 Championship on Wednesday at the Mikhail Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi.
“Belgium made a huge impression in the qualifiers,” Van de Loy began. “There are also some fully skilled Red Devils. Those are the choices many teams make. We played against the Belgians in September and then won 2-1. Tomorrow the teams on the field will be different, but I expect it will be exciting again. Today’s form will make the difference.” .
Van de Looi seems particularly afraid of Loïs Openda. “Of course they have guys like Openda and De Ketelaere, but the other players are also reaching a high level. It’s a strong team and we respect them a lot.”
The Dutch coach indicated that he “cursed for a moment” when he heard that Obenda would join the Belgium national team. He laughed.
“Of course I’m exaggerating a bit. Of course players like that can make a difference, but having them there is good for the championship’s prestige. We want to win this European championship, but we’re also here to learn.”
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