Here is a transcript of today’s MD-1 press conferences with Spain and Saudi Arabia.
I’ve also included sounds from the mixed zone after today’s match, where the Netherlands played Sweden. Jan Paul Van Hecke, Cody Gakpo, and Denzel Dumfries spoke for the Netherlands. Alexander Isak spoke for Sweden
Spain manager Luis de la Fuente:
“Well, we live in a bubble. I don’t know about anything else being said. I’ve received so many messages. I know people are committed to this cause. The team has earned this, deserved this. We are not discouraged. We are motivated and are eager to compete again and recover those good feelings we had only before five days ago. We just want to recover the spirits we had before the game.”
Did you have to make many changes after the CV match? Is Lamine ready to play as a starter?
“First of all, we had to analyze the match and see where we did well. Whether we lose or win. We will think about potential changes, maybe, but not because a player performed better or worse. Lamine Yamal is feeling well so that’s the best news. Some of you are talking about being in the starting lineup. For how long? I don’t know.”
How important is he (Lamine) for Spain?
“The best thing for Spain is whatever we decide before the match. The main thing is that he’s back with us. We’ve played so many matches without Lamine, and we played well. Gavi played in that position at his club and did very well. The next game will be different, and who we put on the pitch will be different as well.”
Tomorrow is your birthday. What do you want?
“A new jersey or jumper. I’m very fortunate to do what I like. I’ve enjoyed various tournaments and championships. We are happy. My best present is to be happy that we are injury-free, and hopefully we will win.
“What I like to do is get the best out of my players.”
“Yes. Dani (Olmo) must be one of the best players playing in between the lines and turning around to create chances. There are many games.”
Players are fired up after the criticisms they received. How are you?
“I’m aware of my responsibility. I’m ready, I’m very eager to compete. I’m looking forward to playing tomorrow’s game. But I am aware of my responsibility to win the game.”
Saudi Arabia manager Georgios Donis
The Spanish coach says his defense is organized and solid. What do you think about this comment, and are your players ready for tomorrow’s game?
“Hello to everyone. Generally speaking, I think in the first half with Uruguay, we played well on all fronts. In the second half, I wasn’t satisfied with our performance. I think in the last few days we tried to work on the lower block as well in order to have a better defensive setup. Especially considering we’re playing a team that always has a ball at their feet. We’re hoping to be more improved against one of the best teams in the world and in a low block, cover the spaces better than we did against Uruguay.“
“When players like Saliman Dochil have such experience, criticism just comes with it. We are in this position, and we need to be able to take criticism, good or bad, fair or not; that’s football. We are fully focused on the team spirit and our job. What’s in our best interest is to have a good team at the end of the day.”
In the last World Cup, you were able to beat Argentina. Before this game, nobody was expecting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to win. Do you find yourself in a similar situation today? Will KSA be able to surprise us again?
“There are miracles in football; we’ve seen it many times. We’ve seen it in the World Cup, in other tournaments, and we’ve seen it here with underdogs. Of course, it’s good to have great memories like the game with Argentina, but we don’t quite see it this way. We have to play against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you get here that you have joy when you play these kinds of teams. Respect the opponent, but not more than you should. Our philosophy is to have belief, regardless of our chances.”
What’s your opinion on Lamine Yamal?
“I think Yamal is the biggest talent in the world. He starts to replace Messi in Barcelona in the best way. I haven’t seen a player his age play with this quality and maturity. What’s most important is not about the skills but the maturity. I think it’s very nice to face players with this quality.”
Jan Paul Van Hecke – Netherlands
The difference between today’s team and the one against Japan?
“Well, they’re two different teams, of course. Japan is a bit more structured, but had a few dangerous players up top. They had some good strikes. But I think our goalkeeper did good today, some parts we can do better, even though we won 5-1. They are all things to improve, and hopefully we can do our best.”
Talk a bit about the match, and after five goals, Haaland will be hard to battle for the title.
“Well, I think today was a really strong performance, where there are still things to improve, that’s good. When you win 5-1, there are still things to improve. We have four points and a good goal difference, so we wanna be top of the group, and we’ll see. And we wanna go really far.”
Cody Gakpo – Netherlands
What did you think of Brian’s ability on his first start, impacting the game as he did?
“We as a team knew his qualities all along; he’s very strong, very, very strong. His hold-up play is amazing, and I think we used that really well today. I’m very happy for him that he scored two goals.
How comfortable are you with the different combinations that the Netherlands has?
“We have speed, we have strong hold up play, good in the box, Memphis came in today that showed his quality, we have on the bench Justin Kluivert and Wout Weghorst, who also have very good qualities. So it’s good to have a diverse set of qualities to help the team at any moment.”
What worked differently today, and how big is today’s result?
“In that game, Japan was very disciplined. We had some chances, but not big chances like we had today. I think today there was more variation in attacking play, more players in different positions, and movement. It was more difficult for defenders to really mark us, so that’s a bit of what we were missing in the last game. I think the result is very big. The first day was a draw, so we needed a win. Yeah, that was a good result, so we’re very happy with this.”
How important can Memphis be with this kind of role on the bench?
“I think you saw today, he came in and gave an assist. I think everybody knows his quality. He’s the all-time top scorer of the country. He has a lot of top qualities, and we’re very happy he’s with us, and we know the type of impact he can have whether he’s on the bench or starting.”
Denzel Dumfries – Netherlands
“I think the first two goals you saw our strength, two good goals. We searched for space. The other goals were coming from our tactics, yes.”
“We dropped a little bit because we had the score on our side, and overall a good win for our side.”
Alexander Isak – Sweden
How to handle this result heading into the final match of the group stage.
“There’s no other way other than to get back on the horse and analyzing what we have to do better. Analyze Japan and look forward to a better performance.”