The Dutch start their European Championship Title Defense in Mönchengladbach on Saturday. If there is one element that can be properly decided, it is the shoot-outs. Fortunately for the Dutch, this has now become a specialty: the last eight shoot-out series have all been won. A world record and anything but a coincidence, according to Captain Thierry Brinkman.
Flashback until the end of June 2024. The Dutch ended the Pro League season with four home games: victories and losses against Belgium, two draws against Germany. Especially those two draws linger against the eastern neighbors, because both times the bonus point goes to Germany via shoot-outs. It gives the Dutch an uncomfortable feeling.
The two lost series are not isolated, because the Dutch have been struggling for some time with the one-on-one duels between player and goalkeeper. In the last 10 international competitions that ended in shoot-outs, the orange had to recognize its superiority for the opponent seven (!) Times, including in the semi-final against Belgium at the World Cup 2023 in India. All in all a dramatic score with a view to the Olympic Games in Paris.
Thierry Brinkman during his shoot-out in the Pro League match with Argentina in June. Photo: Willem Vernes
Zero measurement
“I had felt that things had to be better for a while,” says Brinkman, thinking back to a year ago. He collected statistics from all recent shoot-outs from the Orange and presented them to the group. ‘Everyone looked critically at the implementation of their shoot-outs and their efficiency. They were too many heads or tails. I felt that we had to be serious about it. We didn’t want to leave anything to the coincidence in the direction of Paris. So we did a kind of baseline measurement to find out how we were doing. ‘
In addition to the existing app group for penalty corners, a separate shoot-out group was made, in which players and keepers shared everything: experiences, video images, striking patterns, new techniques. Brinkman: ‘We started training about new finishing techniques, have tried many things right for the goal. What works for you? What exactly? We now also work with a huge database with images of dozens of keepers. I am convinced that we increase our chances of success if we are so aware of it. ‘
Derk Meijer turns a shot from Argentinian Tomas Domene during the Pro League match of the Netherlands with Argentina. June. Photo: Willem Vernes
World record
The renewed approach around the shoot-outs has paid off. By winning the Shoot-Outs series in the Olympic final against Germany, the Dutchmen attracted a line under the poor results of earlier and have not been defeated about this aspect since then. In the past Pro League season, the Delmée team won seven shootout series after a draw.
In fact, the eight series in a row seems to be a new world record. Canada once had seven; Other top countries did not get any further than six. The Dutch also missed only two of the last 24 attempts. The last fifteen all went inside.
“That gives us a lot of confidence, but it is no guarantee for the future,” Brinkman responded soberly to the sounding statistics. ‘You must constantly remain sharp and dare to innovate. Everything counts: the interplay with your keeper, watching looking so that you can request a video rehearsal if necessary. ‘
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Cron’s creativity
At Orange, Brinkman (24 attempts), Croon (19), Van Dam (15) and bees (12) are the most experienced shoot-out players. Croon has the highest efficiency with 16 goals of 19 attempts (84 percent). ‘Jorrit is so creative, that makes him unpredictable for keepers. He will always be there. But we must also look wider than just the Usual suspects. You never know who is injured or has a Down Day. The larger the group that feels comfortable with a shoot-out, the better. ‘
And that will be necessary in Mönchengladbach, Brinkman believes. ‘The top four of the last Pro League season [the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Germany] are all European countries. The differences between them are minimal. Then shoot-outs can be decisive. It determines the color of your medal. For that reason alone, it is necessary to study it as well as possible. ‘
Jorrit Croon during one of his nineteen shoot-outs on behalf of the Orange. Photo: Willem Vernes
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