Borussia Dortmund midfielder Joey Veerman continued his productive return with the Netherlands national team by assisting Virgil van Dijk's goal in their 2-2 draw with Greece on Thursday.
The 27-year-old whipped in a perfectly-weighted corner inside the box for the Liverpool star to rise and place into the back of the net with another stunning header that sparked their comeback into the match.
Having trailed by two goals at half-time, the Oranje equalized in the penultimate minute of normal time through Tijjani Reijnders and returned from Thessaloniki with a hard-earned point against the menacing Hellic nation.
Veerman's assist also marks his first direct goal-contribution since resuming national team duties last month (although he bagged the pre-assist for Mexx Meerdink's winner against Serbia too) as the BVB anchorman made another telling impact with his technique and passing.
It has drawn yet another reaction from Dutch commentator Johan Derksen, who's been one of his fiercest critics in the past. Just days after admitting that he's impressed with Veerman, Derksen now spoke of the motivation behind the midfielder's stellar return to the Dutch set-up.
Appearing on Vandaag Inside (via Round Table), he said:
"He is still working on something somewhere. He is optimally motivated, because little by little he is proving Koeman wrong. That is of course his driving force, because he is hurt by Koeman. And Koeman was right, of course, about what he takes issue with."
Following their Euro 2024 semi-final loss to England, Veerman was frozen out of the Netherlands' side by previous manager Ronald Koeman, with whom the player had a fallout, leading to him getting ostracized from his 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup too.
However, with Koeman stepping down from his position post their disappointing Round of 32 exit, Xavi was appointed to replace him and the former Barcelona metronome recalled Veerman back into the squad as replacement for the injured Frenkie de Jong, and perhaps considering his strong start to the new season with Dortmund.
In three matches so far, the 27-year-old has taken his opportunities convincingly. A promising cameo off the bench against Germany led to a start against Serbia, after which he retained his place in the XI for the Netherlands clash too, suggesting he's close to reestablishing himself in the Dutch XI again.
However, not everyone's convinced yet. Feyenoord legend Willem van Hanegem is cautious against heralding Veerman as Netherlands' solution to midfield yet, saying it's still too early to draw any conclusions.
"And Joey Veerman sometimes plays a pass to a teammate, yes. Is that allowed? Stop now and pretending right away that he is now going to make the difference."
Hanegem has also critiqued Veerman's awareness off the ball, as the player has struggled to close down spaces in transition while generally looking weak in defense.
He could get one more opportunity to build on his excellent return to international stage when the Netherlands host Serbia on Sunday for their last match of this international window.
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