Kuman: "It looked like they were afraid of us" after draw against Japan


Head coach Ronald Kuman of the Dutch national team has given his opinion on the 2-2 draw against Japan at the 2026 World Cup. "After the match I was mainly disappointed: taking the lead twice and then letting the opponent come back, that is frustrating. But in the end, with a calm mind, I look at the draw philosophically. I think Japan is an excellent team, who can win big games, but we were better. It even seemed like they scared us in large parts of the match. In a match you can't control everything. I wanted to win — that brings peace to the team. But Japan remains a strong opponent, everything is good, we can move on, we scored against a difficult opponent. It's time to rehabilitate ourselves in the match against Sweden this week," Kuman said, according to Footmercato. In the second round, the Dutch national team will play against Sweden (June 20) and in the third round against Tunisia (June 26). Japan will play Tunisia in the second round (June 21) and Sweden in the third round (June 26).

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