All four Atalantini already made their debut in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as soon as Matchday 1: not only that, as for Teun Koopmeiners, Marten de Roon, Joakim Mæhle and Mario Pašalić those minutes on the pitch also meant their first-ever appearance in a World Cup.
Teun Koopmeiners and Marten de Roon have been the very first ones to hit the pitch, coming from the bench in the 2-0 victory of the “Clockwork Orange” against Senegal 10 odd minutes before the final whistle, and with the scoreboard still sealed at 0-0, the Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal subbed in Koopmeiners first; de Roon, on the other hand, was called into action already deep into injury time but, given the lengthy extra time conceded, he managed nonetheless to get precious minutes in his legs and to be on the pitch when Klassen doubled the Oranje’s lead in the 99th minute (whilst the Dutch opener was scored in the 84th minute, courtesy of Gakpo).
Then came Joakim Mæhle’s turn, with the Danish defender playing the whole match against Tunisia (resulted in the final 0-0 draw); the last Atalantino in order of appearance has been Mario Pašalić who played the second half of the match witnessing Croatia drawing against Morocco, with the final result being, once again, a 0-0 tie.
Kudos to you all!
The next commitment awaiting Koopmeiners, de Roon, Mæhle and Pašalić will be Matchday 2 of the group stage, a tricky tipping point bound to already be a make it or break it for a place in the next round. Down below the game schedule and provisional standings for Groups A, D, F in detail.
GROUP A
– Friday 11/25 at 17:00 CET Netherlands-Ecuador
– Tuesday 11/29 at 16:00 CET The Netherlands-Qatar
Provisional chart: Netherlands and Ecuador 3 points each; Qatar and Senegal 0 points
GROUP D
– Saturday 11/26 at 17:00 CET France-Denmark
– Wednesday 11/30 at 16:00 CET Australia- Denmark
Provisional chart: France 3 points; Denmark e Tunisia 1 point each; Australia 0 points
GROUP F
– Sunday 11/27 at 17:00 CET: Croatia-Canada
– Thursday 12/1 at 16:00 CET Croatia-Belgium
Provisional chart: Belgium 3 points, Croatia and Morocco 1 point each, Canada 0 points
