World Cup Now: Netherlands wins Group A, but are the Dutch playing their best?
Netherlands took care of business against Qatar on Tuesday, beating the host nation 2-0 to clinch the top spot in Group A and head to the knockout stage for the first time since 2014.
Despite the heavily favored Dutch notching two wins and a draw in Group A play, USMNT legend DeMarcus Beasley believes that Netherlands could be vulnerable in the knockout stage. Here's what Beasely and fellow World Cup Now hosts Jimmy Conrad and Sacha Kljestan had to say about the expected Dutch dominance in the group stage.
Conrad: A sign of maturity
They played OK … and they still figure out a way to win, they still figure out a way to get results. … Now they're probably going to fire on all cylinders now that they're in the knockout round because they've been there before. That Dutch dominance is something to respect, and I think they're going to be a team that I'm not going to want to face.
Beasley: "It wasn’t dominant"
How good are they? Are they good enough? They're going into the next round, yes. Did they play well enough? Yes. But this Dutch team, I don't think they've hit their peak, and I don't know if they're going to find that. … They're not playing the dominant football that you would expect from Holland. And I just worry, are we putting them on a pedestal when they shouldn't be?
Kljestan: Not an elite team?
We've seen some teams that we think ‘that team is going to get to the semifinals of the World Cup.' I don't think we've seen that from the Dutch. We don't feel that yet. We don't see anything that's setting them apart from France, Brazil, Spain.
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