On June 30 at 9:00 (CEST), the FIFA World Cup round of 16 match between the Netherlands and Morocco will take place. Captain Van Dijk stated at the pre-match press conference that the team will give their all in the knockout stage.

Facing Morocco tomorrow, do you expect many Moroccan fans in the stadium?

I disagree with you. I believe we'll see a lot of orange shirts tomorrow, you'll see. At least, that's how I feel right now. We've already received a very warm welcome at our hotel, and what I'm hearing isn't quite what you're saying.

Of course, as you mentioned, there are historical ties between the Netherlands and Morocco, but I expect many Dutch fans tomorrow. The Moroccan fan section could also be very impressive, I think so too. But perhaps I'm mistaken.

On paper, you could have faced easier opponents in the round of 16, but you weren't so fortunate. It seems like a match that should have been played in the quarter-finals. Do you see it more as a challenge or an opportunity to test yourselves?

Personally, I don't think we have anything to prove. We're here now, and it will be a very exciting match for neutral fans. For us, this is our reality. We're here now, and we're ready for Morocco. This will be a special match because there are special ties between the Netherlands and Morocco. But this is the current situation, and we'll adapt. As I said, this is the knockout stage—win or go home, and we'll give everything.

Tomorrow is an important match, but football isn't always the most important thing in life, and we saw that again this week. Yesterday came the sad news about Gakpo and his partner, which you already knew about before. What has this week meant for the team?

As the coach said, the most important thing is to be there for him when he needs us. This is, of course, very difficult, and you were right to point out that this shows once again that football is actually secondary in life—there are more important things.

It's very sad. But as the coach said, from what I know of Gakpo and what we've seen in recent days, he's very keen to help the team reach the next round tomorrow and will give his all for it. Everyone's focus is now completely on that.

Related reading: [Gakpo's partner announces tragic news: Our unborn child has died]

You know Gakpo well, and if he had wanted to go home, you would certainly have understood. Have you learned something more about him through this, seeing how he's shifted his mindset and focused on performing for the Dutch team despite facing this?

I can't say I've learned something new about him. Nobody wants to face something like this, so you never know how someone will ultimately handle it. But from what I'm seeing now and what I know of him, this really fits his character—he's very mature about it. I have great respect for him, his partner, and their families for how they're handling this situation, as terrible as it is.

Vincent Janssen has played in this stadium before and also participated in the FIFA World Cup with you. Did you contact him for details about the venue?

No, I don't think that's necessary. Actually, I think it's good to see this stadium today. For me, it's not always necessary to see the stadium beforehand, but I've never been to Mexico or Monterrey before. I must say, it's a nice stadium.

It's said that the roof here can trap heat, and such details could have an impact.

Yes, it could have an impact.

The coach mentioned defending better and maintaining compactness with less space between the lines. What will you do? You're responsible for holding the entire defense together.

I'm one of those responsible, yes. Over the last two days, we've trained and emphasized these points very seriously. As the coach said, I'm confident that our defensive organization will be much better tomorrow.

But what exactly will you do differently than before?

Defense isn't done by one person; it's about organizing distances and maintaining team compactness with multiple players involved. I'm certainly not the only one responsible, but I feel responsibility for it. As I said, we've done a lot of work and video analysis on this over the last two days. It's clear, as the coach said, that if we face a better team—which will certainly happen tomorrow—these aspects must improve significantly. After these two days, I feel more positive about tomorrow.

Earlier, the coach spoke about players solving problems on the pitch themselves. Reijnders also said this week that it's not easy for players because everyone has a different understanding of the game. Are there moments where you want the team to drop deep, while some midfielders want to push forward? Is that the complexity of the game?

What point are you referring to? Who said someone wants to go forward and someone wants to drop back?

A moment we saw in a match where you seemed to be telling everyone to drop back, while Frenkie de Jong wanted to push forward.

I don't even remember that scenario. We have a game plan that the coaching staff developed with us. There will be moments in the match when we need to press one-on-one; there will also be moments when the entire team needs to drop behind the ball. This requires communication, initiative, and football intelligence. If the ball goes to the wrong opponent and you see an opportunity to press, then you go. If not, you drop back. This doesn't come just from the defensive line; everyone has a responsibility.

But I think we live in a different era—not just in football, many things are different from ten years ago. So whether you can expect exactly the same as before is another question.

You scored all your penalties in training during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, but then missed your first penalty in the actual match. Have you thought about it often since then? What did you do differently afterward? Was it just pressure?

I believe this is the part the coach mentioned that can't be trained. In such an important moment, I just heard all the Argentina fans whistling, and I didn't even really hear the referee's whistle. This isn't an excuse, but obviously, that doesn't happen on the training pitch. As you said, in Qatar we practiced penalties every day, and every ball went in. But in the actual match, unfortunately, that one didn't. I was affected for a while after the World Cup because I was really very disappointed. But it doesn't stay with me all the time. You have to move on. Since then I've taken quite a few penalties, including a rather important one away against Greece that I remember, so you continue.

Another thing: penalty training shouldn't focus only on the first penalty takers, because you can make five or six substitutions in a match. Normally, the number one, two, and three penalty takers might already be on the bench and unable to take penalties, so you need to involve more players in penalty preparation.

Tradotto dall'IA.

Il sito web di AF è ora online! Notizie complete, commenti, dettagli delle partite e statistiche sul tuo computer. Visita: www.allfootballapp.com