Frenkie de Jong was in doubt for the Netherlands' Group F match against Sweden, but in the end he managed to play and participate in the defeat of the Nordics (5-1). The Barcelona midfielder started and at the end of the match he took some pebbles off his shoe and responded to several of his detractors: "I have the feeling that a lot of people don't understand anything about football. They watch it, but they don't understand it, so to speak. This is not a bad thing, because it allows everyone to talk about it, but it's the truth", he stated in statements to SBS6. De Jong continued to defend his style of play: "I hear people say I don't make deep passes, but that's not true," he replied. "They're just not paying attention to the game. It depends on the match, but also on the moment. You can throw that ball deep, but then it always goes to the goalkeeper. Yes, I think it's difficult for some people to understand that. Maybe I should sit down with them once. It also depends on the moment itself. If someone sprints or not, how they're running..." The Dutch midfielder, at 29, accepts criticism and debate, but with criteria and without crossing the line: "I think that, in general, in the Netherlands we could value the players a little more. Of course you can criticize if you think someone isn't playing a good game. That's fine and we have no problem with it. But often it's exaggerated so much that a player is immediately labeled as poor." And he added: "We have a lot of guys who play at the highest level, and for years. Or at a high level anyway. They are all excellent players. Anyone can have a bad match and there is nothing wrong if they are criticized for it", guarantees De Jong. "Everyone wants to say whatever they want and I have the feeling that, in the end, they just do it to show off."
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