R. Koeman on injured F. de Jong and upcoming tactics against the Lithuanians

2025-09-07 11:59 © AP

In the historic World Cup qualifying match in Kaunas, Lithuanian football fans will not see one of the biggest stars of the Netherlands national team, Frenkie de Jong.

In the match against the Poles (1:1) a few days ago, the representative of "Barcelona" suffered a minor hip injury, and now coach Ronald Koeman has decided to let the player rest.

"During the match, he felt discomfort and we had to substitute Frenkie. He hasn't recovered yet, and we won't take any risks with the player's health in the match against the Lithuanians,” the coach explained.

In the match that ended in a draw, the Poles had set the goal of not allowing F. De Jong to take the ball from the midfield, and now R. Koeman predicts that similar tactics will be taken against Frenkie’s successor by Edgaras Jankauskas' men.

"We must quickly transition from defense to attack and not hesitate to change the sides of our attacks,” the specialist reasoned.