Netherlands:

The Dutchmen begin their European Championship title defense Saturday in Mönchengladbach. If there is one element that could well be decisive, it is the shoot-outs. Fortunately for the Dutch, this has now become a specialty: the last eight shoot-out series were all won. A world record, and anything but a coincidence, according to captain Thierry Brinkman.

Flashback to late June 2024. The Dutchmen finished the Pro League season with four home games: wins and losses against Belgium, two draws against Germany. Especially those two draws against the eastern neighbors linger, as both times the bonus point goes to Germany via shoot-outs. It gives the Dutch an uneasy feeling.

Those two lost series are not isolated, as the Dutch have been struggling for some time with the one-on-one duels between player and goalkeeper. In the last 10 international matches that ended in shoot-outs, the Orange had to acknowledge its superiority to the opponent seven (!) times, including in the semifinal against Belgium at the 2023 World Cup in India. All in all, a dramatic score in view of the Paris Olympics.

WV2025 WV2R2281 - Netherlands: - The Dutchmen begin their European Championship title defense Saturday in Mönchengladbach. If there is one element that could well be decisive, it is the shoot-outs. Fortunately for the Dutch, this has now become a specialty: the last eight shoot-out series were all won. A world record, and anything but a coincidence, according to captain Thierry Brinkman.

Thierry Brinkman during his shoot-out in the Pro League game with Argentina in June. Photo: Willem Vernes

Zero measurement

“I had felt for some time that things needed to be better,” Brinkman says as he thinks back to a year ago. He collected statistics from all of the Orange’s recent shoot-outs and presented them to the group. ‘Everyone looked critically at the execution of their shoot-outs and their efficiency. It was too much heads or tails. I felt we needed to get serious about it. We didn’t want to leave anything to chance toward Paris. So we did a sort of baseline measurement to find out exactly how we were doing.’

In addition to the already existing app group for penalty corners, a separate shoot-out group was created, in which players and goalkeepers shared everything: experiences, video images, striking patterns, new techniques. Brinkman: ‘We started training on new finishing techniques, tried a lot of things right in front of the goal. What works for you? What exactly doesn’t? We are now also working with a huge database with images of dozens of goalkeepers. I am convinced that we increase our chances of success if we are so conscious of it.’

WV2025 WV2R3955 2 - Netherlands: - The Dutchmen begin their European Championship title defense Saturday in Mönchengladbach. If there is one element that could well be decisive, it is the shoot-outs. Fortunately for the Dutch, this has now become a specialty: the last eight shoot-out series were all won. A world record, and anything but a coincidence, according to captain Thierry Brinkman.

Derk Meijer turns away a shot by Argentine Tomas Domene during the Netherlands’ Pro League match with Argentina in. June. Photo: Willem Vernes

World record

The renewed approach around the shoot-outs paid off. By winning the shoot-outs series in the Olympic final against Germany, the Dutch drew a line under the bad results from before and have not been beaten on this aspect since. In the past Pro League season, Delmée’s team won seven shootout series after a draw.

In fact, the eight series won in a row appears to be a new world record. Canada once had seven; other top nations got no further than six. The Dutch also missed only two of the last 24 attempts. The last fifteen all went in.

‘That gives us a lot of confidence, but it is no guarantee for the future,’ Brinkman responded soberly to the resounding statistics. ‘You constantly have to stay sharp and dare to innovate. Everything counts: the interplay with your goalkeeper, watching keenly so you can request a video replay if necessary.’

SO Oranje scaled - Netherlands: - The Dutchmen begin their European Championship title defense Saturday in Mönchengladbach. If there is one element that could well be decisive, it is the shoot-outs. Fortunately for the Dutch, this has now become a specialty: the last eight shoot-out series were all won. A world record, and anything but a coincidence, according to captain Thierry Brinkman.

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Croon’s creativity

At Orange, Brinkman (24 attempts), Croon (19), Van Dam (15) and Bijen (12) are the most experienced shoot-out players. Croon has the highest efficiency with 16 goals from 19 attempts (84 percent). ‘Jorrit is so creative, that makes him unpredictable for goalkeepers. He will always be there. But we also have to look wider than just the usual suspects. You never know who will get injured or have a down day. The bigger the group that feels comfortable with a shoot-out, the better.’

And that will be needed in Mönchengladbach, Brinkman believes. ‘The top-four of last Pro League season [the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Germany] are all European countries. The differences between them are minimal. Then shoot-outs can be decisive. It determines the color of your medal. For that reason alone, it is necessary to study it as well as possible.’