Head coach Ronald Koeman may have to change his front line again for the Netherlands’ third group game against Tunisia after revealing Brian Brobbey was carrying a minor hamstring injury.
Brobbey scored twice in the opening 17 minutes of Oranje’s 5-1 win against Sweden, but was replaced in the 72nd minute by Memphis Depay, who is himself recovering from a thigh injury.
The Dutch lead Group F after their impressive attacking display on Saturday, but with Japan beating Tunisia 4-0, Koeman knows his team will need more goals against the eliminated African side to win the group.
Brobbey said his leg was “all good” after the match, but Koeman raised doubts about whether the Sunderland striker could start against Tunisia. “He has slight hamstring problems, so that might be a setback,” the coach said.
Koeman could shuffle his forward line again by moving Donyell Malen to centre and restoring Crysencio Summerville, who scored the team’s fifth goal and his second of the tournament against Sweden, on the right-hand side.
All-time leading scorer Depay is still not fit enough to join the starting 11, but Cody Gakpo, who struck twice early in the second half, is a certain starter. Justin Kluivert and Ajax’s Wout Weghorst are also waiting in the wings.
“Lots of options”
“We have different types of attackers and can change them around where we think we need to. It gives us a lot of options,” Koeman said.
Summerville was taken off in the last minutes of the match after catching a Swedish defender’s knee.in his face, but Koeman dispelled any worries he might miss the Tunisia game. “He had a bit of a headache, but we expect he’ll be available for the next game.”
The five goals against Sweden gave the Dutch a much-needed confidence boost after drawing 2-2 with Japan in their opening game and stuttering performances in the warm-up matches.
“The goals we made will make opponents fear us,” Koeman said. “We have a lot of speed and quality when we go on the attack, which makes us incredibly dangerous.”
Oranje are on course to meet either Brazil or Morocco in the next round, assuming they beat Tunisia and finish in one of the top two places in their group.
If they win they will have to travel to Monterrey for their last 32 match, whereas as runners-up they would play in Houston, which was also the venue for their win against Sweden.
