Wijnaldum wants more goals

Georginio Wijnaldum suggested the Netherlands must be more "eager" to score after a dominant display against Latvia only resulted in a 2-0 World Cup qualifying win.

Frank de Boer's Oranje bounced back from the 4-2 defeat to Turkey in their Group G opener with an excellent all-round performance in Amsterdam on Saturday. Steven Berghuis and Luuk de Jong were responsible for the two goals, the former curling into the top-left corner before the latter headed in from Memphis Depay's corner.

Though Latvia goalkeeper Roberts Ozols pulled off several impressive saves, Liverpool midfielder Wijnaldum believes his side have to show more conviction in their finishing.

"In itself it was not too difficult tonight, finding the spaces was very easy," Wijnaldum told broadcasters NOS. "I don't know how many balls they cleared off the line, but I think we should be a bit more eager to score. All in all, it is good that we have created so many opportunities. If you want to take a critical look at it, you have to say that we should have done even more to get that ball over the line."

 

March 27, 2021

Davy Klaassen and De Jong hit the crossbar either side of Berghuis' opener, the Feyenoord forward's first international goal in his 23rd Oranje appearance.

Captain Wijnaldum was replaced in the 79th minute and the the Barcelona-linked 30-year-old was visibly frustrated but insisted that was purely down to feeling he still had more to offer.

"I was a bit disappointed," he said. "The coach and I talked about it. I really wanted to stay because I really had the feeling that I could score another goal. But otherwise it is nothing bad. We shouldn't make it bigger than it is."