Advocaat explains Robben change
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Article summary
Dick Advocaat has defended his decision to substitute Arjen Robben in the 3-2 defeat by the Czech Republic.
Article body
Czech comeback
Advocaat took off Robben after 59 minutes with his team 2-1 up and had to watch as the Czechs scored twice in the last 20 minutes to seal a dramatic win and first place in Group D. "We played a dangerous opponent and still managed to get into a 2-0 lead," said Advocaat. "Then their coach substituted [Zdenek] Grygera and that would have meant Robben playing against [Karel] Poborský so we changed that and had [Giovanni] van Bronckhorst play Poborský and Robben against [Tomáš] Galásek.
Attacking threat
"That went very well until half-time but they then changed to 3-5-2 which would have meant that they would have had a free man in midfield. So I took off Robben as I still felt that we had two good attackers on the pitch in Andy van der Meyde and Ruud van Nistelrooij." Advocaat came in for much criticism as the change did not work, but refused to hide. "I want to show my face to the press," he said. "I'm not afraid of that. In fact, I love to do it. There is no use running away from it."
'Full responsibility'
The Dutch coach also revealed that several players did not want the substitution to take place. "The players did not feel that they would lose control of the match in the same way we did on the bench," he said. "They preferred to keep Robben on but I and my assistants made the decision and I, as head coach, have to take full responsibility for that. The problem is that you always have to deal with an opponent and what they are doing.
'Excellent substitutions'
"If we had kept Robben on and lost then people would have criticised that. The Czech coach made some excellent substitutions and tactical changes and I tried to respond but he beat me on this occasion." The 3-2 defeat leaves the Netherlands in third place in Group D and they will have to beat Latvia in their last group game and hope that Germany do not defeat the Czech Republic in order to go through to the quarter-finals.
Team applauded
The team trained in Albufeira today and were applauded by Dutch fans for their performance against the Czechs.
