Ronald Koeman has been accused on 'hiding' after he didn't appear at a Netherlands press conference at Euro 2024.
The Netherlands were tipped to be one of the 'dark horses' of Euro 2024, but their performances so far in Germany have been far from convincing.
After snatching a 2-1 win against Poland on matchday one, the Dutch held France to a goalless draw in a dull contest in Leipzig.
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That result gave Ronald Koeman's side a great opportunity to top the group or come second, but a 3-2 defeat to Austria - arguably the team of the tournament so far - condemned the Netherlands to a third place finish.
As one of the four best third place finishers, the Netherlands will face Group E winners Romania in the round-of-16.
Dutch fans and media have been less than impressed with the team's efforts, so it was surprising that Koeman didn't turn up to a media conference held on Friday.
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Defenders Virgil van Dijk and Nathan Ake fielded questions instead, accompanied by the team's press officer Bas Ticheler.
About halfway through the conference, chief football writer at Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf Valentijn Driessen asked about Koeman's whereabouts and accused the 61-year-old of hiding from the media.
"What is the consideration of not sitting here with Ronald Koeman?" Driessen asked Ticheler.
"Will he now be in hiding for six days while he is the leader of the troops. It seems [that way] to me."
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Keen to shut the topic down, Ticheler replied: "There will be another press conference with the national coach."
Driessen pressed on: "That is in six days' time, but quite a bit has happened, of course. So what is the trade-off in this?"
The press officer responded: "Well, it is not up to me now to answer these kinds of questions. I would say choose to ask the players questions and I would like to exchange ideas about these kinds of things with everyone at another time. But I don't think it is entirely appropriate to do that now and here."
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Not satisfied with that answer, Driessen fired back: "Well, I think it is. This is a press conference and Ronald Koeman is not here."
Finally, Ticheler shut down the conversation by saying: "No, but I think he has sat at this table at many other times too. But okay, now we're getting into a discussion and this meeting is really not meant for that. So go ahead."
Driessen then turned to Ake and Van Dijk and asked them some questions.
Topics: Euro 2024, Netherlands, Ronald Koeman, Virgil Van Dijk, Nathan Ake, Football
Alex Brotherton