If the Netherlands do not improve possession they have little chance of winning the World Cup, coach Louis van Gaal said on Friday after his men let a chance to reach the last 16 slip through their fingers with a 1-1 draw with Ecuador.
After Cody Gakpo's sixth-minute rocket gave the Netherlands a 1-0, the Dutch appeared on their way to advancing from Group A into the knockout stages.
But the ball retention issues that bedevilled the Dutch in a somewhat unconvincing 2-0 win over Senegal in their opener surfaced again at the Khalifa International Stadium, resulting in a second half equaliser from Ecuadorean "Superman" Enner Valencia.The South Americans, roared on by a large yellow-clad contingent, stepped up a gear in the second and could have won it when Gonzalo Plata's strike hit the crossbar.
"We were poor in terms of ball possession and if you're not good at ball possession you won't reach the other half," lamented Van Gaal. "We would lose the ball too quickly so we could not pass to our own players."Plus we lost every challenge, every duel, every second ball.
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