Matthijs de Ligt was taken off at half-time as Netherlands drew with Germany (Picture: Getty Images)
Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman took Matthijs de Ligt off at half-time to protect him after a disappointing mistake in the draw with Germany on Tuesday night.
It finished 2-2 in Amsterdam after Tijjani Reijnders opened the scoring for the Dutch after just two minutes, but Germany were ahead before the break through Deniz Undav and Joshua Kimmich. Denzel Dumfries equalised on 50 minutes for the home team.
Undav’s goal came from a De Ligt mistake as the Manchester United defender gave the ball away under no real pressure at the back.
The centre-back’s pass out was intercepted and the former Brighton striker eventually lashed a shot past current Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
Koeman addressed a mistake De Ligt made in the previous match against Bosnia-Herzegovina and had to do so again on Tuesday, admitting that his recent blunders led to his substitution at half-time.
‘Of course I would rather have kept Matthijs de Ligt on the pitch. It just looks like he is now in a period where all his mistakes are being punished,’ said Koeman.
‘I gave him a new chance today, but eventually protected him by taking him off.’
Virgil van Dijk hopes his defensive partner learns from the mistake (Picture: Getty Images)
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was blunt in his assessment of the error, saying that punishment is bound to follow against top sides.
‘This is football. You have to learn from this,’ he said. ‘It was one moment but at the highest level you will get punished for it.’
De Ligt had a moment to forget during Netherlands’ 5-2 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday, which he admitted to being disastrous himself.
‘I think you know how I feel… we won… but then comes the individual part. I should have done better at their second goal, and I know that,’ he said. ‘I don’t really know what happened. I should have cleared the ball but I kept having doubts during the play. It’s just f****d.’
Koeman said of the incident: ‘He himself realises that he was in the wrong position. This should not happen, but mistakes are part of football. I think it is unfair to make a big deal out of it.’
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