AMSTERDAM: Netherlands coach Frank de Boer’s unwavering belief in his 3-5-2 formation would have been tested had his side notvictory over Ukraine at the Johan Cruyff Arena on Sunday .
But then it paid off, as right back Denzel Dumfries headed the winner from close to the penalty spot on one of his many forays into the Ukraine box that had also seen him influence their first two goals. Yet it also allowed Ukraine to break forward quickly and exploit that space left by the wing backs, and twice in the first half the visitors went close to punishing them. Yet those warnings were not heeded.There is plenty of risk in the system, but in this instance it brought reward, though better teams might have been more clinical to take advantage of the exposed Dutch flanks.
"We always try to play dominant football and that's what we want with this system," he told reporters on the eve of the match.