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The Liverpool midfielder believes his country needs to work to make its transitions much smoother
Georginio Wijnaldum acknowledged that there were points where the Netherlands did not look very good in the victory against Poland.
The Netherlands rallied to win 2-1 in Chorzow, but that was not enough to secure a return to the Nations League finals, as Italy’s 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina ensured they finished at the top of the Group. A1.
Kamil Jozwiak put Poland in front in the fifth minute with an impressive solo goal, but Wijnaldum won a penalty that Memphis Depay converted in the 77th minute and then scored a deflected header to give Oranje a second win in six games under Ronald de Boer.
Poland was a potent threat at halftime and match winner Wijnaldum admitted they made the Netherlands look bad on points, saying the Dutch must improve if they are to do well at Euro 2020.
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“I think this was one of our best matches. At first we were not ready and they were able to score early, but otherwise it was good,” said Wijnaldum WE.
“It’s only in transition that we can do better. Sometimes we just don’t look good. It’s hard to train in that. We don’t have much time to practice that sort of thing together between games.
“We have to take these steps as soon as possible if we want to do well in the European Championship. We did what we had to do.”
Bayern Munich striker in Poland, Robert Lewandowski, started the match despite being a doubt due to a muscle injury. He assisted Jozwiak’s goal and released Przemyslaw Placheta for a shot that hit the post before going into halftime.
De Boer was disappointed that his players didn’t heed his warning to focus early on at Silesian Stadium, but he wasn’t too disappointed with the performance.
“I saw more positives than negatives,” De Boer said. “I warned the team beforehand that because of all the problems with Robert Lewandowski over the last few days, I was hoping that Poland would want to show something.
“You have to be sharp from the first second, but it seemed like we weren’t. Defensively, it should definitely be better, we’re going to work on that. You can’t start like this.
“After 1-0 we picked it up really well and created one opportunity after another. Then we show what we can do. We have to work on everything, but I leave feeling good.
“It is also a well deserved victory. They fought for it until the last second and I am proud of that. We have the willpower and we have to maintain it.”
