Valentijn Driessen on the striker position: "Then he should have scored three."

Valentijn Driessen also saw that the Netherlands national team lost 0-1 on Wednesday evening in De Kuip to Algeria and therefore traveled to the World Cup in North America with a defeat. Despite a plethora of chances in the first half, Ronald Koeman’s team failed to score.

According to Driessen, former PSV player Donyell Malen also couldn’t cope with the pressure. Malen was allowed to start from the beginning and was given a number of huge chances that the current striker of AS Roma couldn’t convert.

''He just didn’t deliver it, I think. Then he should have made three, surely given the chances he got,'' says the journalist in the podcast Kick-Off of De Telegraaf.

Driessen also thinks this has to do with the pressure that the shirt of the Dutch national team brings with it. ''I’m convinced of that. That pressure is just completely different with the Netherlands national team. Bert van Marwijk said the same thing. Coming on as a substitute with Oranje is very different from starting with Ajax. That’s just how it is,'' he continues.

Despite the fact that the journalist was not impressed by Malen, he does expect a starting spot against Japan. ''Memphis is his competition, but he really isn't fit. He's so far behind, that was evident against Algeria. Malen will start, but the Netherlands shirt weighs the most of them all'', Driessen said.

Mike Verweij believes that Malen’s performance was simply unfortunate. ''He has very good statistics in Orange... It can just be a time when it goes against him. Now he is starting in the starting lineup, that will be different. But he does come into the right positions three times. That is also a quality,'' concludes Verweij.