The Netherlands criticizes the World Cup host as 'amateur'

"When I got to the training ground on Wednesday, I thought, 'Is this a training ground? I can't train at a field like this.' We have raised concerns about this cricket ground before and received many promises. But now we are very disappointed and angry," coach Andries Jonker told ESPN. "We are one of the top candidates. We want to play a good game against Portugal. We need to prepare well for the top tournament in the world. But the training ground here is not suitable. It is extremely amateurish."

The Netherlands is the defending runner-up, will play the first match against Portugal today 22/7. The team was deployed to practice at the Oval in Taurange. This was originally the field for New Zealand to host cricket matches.

The Dutch Football Federation has expressed concern to FIFA about the pitch when it arrived at the front line in October 2022 and February 2023. They were promised the hard grass here would be replaced as soon as the cricket season ended and the Netherlands would have a nice training ground. However, coach Andries Jonker said the pitch is very bad, easy to cause injuries to players.

"If the knee or shoulder falls on the field, the player can have problems," added coach Jonker. "If sprinting here is not good for the muscles and tendons. We still try to do other exercises, it's okay, but the 11-to-11 combat is not possible."

Coach Jonker said the team had considered the option of going to Dunedin earlier or going to Hamilton, but that would entail a lot of changes in airline tickets, hotels, and even more time going to the training ground. So unsatisfied, but the Netherlands still keeps the training schedule at the location arranged by the organizers.

The Netherlands is in Group E, will meet Portugal (July 22), USA (July 27) and Vietnam (August 1).