De Jong made the admission with his new coach sitting right beside him on the platform, and the Dutch journalists pounced. Here was rich material to test Xavi's reaction in his first official minutes with the Netherlands.
No sooner had De Jong finished than they put the question to Xavi directly: how did he feel knowing he had been the third choice behind Guardiola and Slot? It was designed to put the Spanish coach on the back foot at his first press conference. Xavi didn't flinch. He answered with a broad smile and the sense of humour for which he is known: "I came after Guardiola and Slot? The important thing is that I was on the podium! I don't care in the slightest whether I was the third choice, because this appointment is a badge of honour on my chest."
Nobody in the room missed the sporting cleverness of that reply. Xavi had cast himself as the holder of the bronze medal in the race of nominations, rather than someone who left empty-handed or slipped into oblivion.
De Jong, meanwhile, was keen to justify the choice. He stressed that Xavi sees himself as an extension of the Dutch philosophy and believes in attacking football built on possession, control and initiative. That made him the most suitable man to lead the rebuild after Ronald Koeman's departure, which followed the disappointing round-of-32 exit against Morocco at the World Cup.
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