Noa Lang came on at half-time in Greece v the Netherlands (2-2) with his side 2-0 down. The Napoli forward is critical of the Dutch national team's first-half displays.
Speaking to ESPN, Lang assessed the changes made by head coach Xavi Hernández. "I had to bring creativity and flair at half-time and show courage. I think the three substitutions (Tijjani Reijnders, Ryan Gravenberch and Lang, ed.) did that properly."
Lang said the head coach was very angry at half-time about both the performance and the scoreline. "The way we showed up in the first half, that has to stop at some point. It happens to us too often."
In the Nations League matches against Germany (1-1) and Serbia (1-2), Xavi had already needed to make changes after poor first halves. "I have no idea why that is. We want to be a top country and measure ourselves against the top countries, but we just struggle too often," Lang said.
"Of course away to Greece is a difficult match, but in my eyes it is still a match that you, as the Netherlands, have to win. If you want to be a top country, then you have to show that and simply win these kinds of matches. This happens to us too often," the creative player continued.
Greece looked like they wanted it more than the Netherlands, Lang believes. "They wanted it more than us in the first half and that is a serious matter. Greece are playing at home, are enthusiastic and have momentum. You have to be prepared for that."
He could not pinpoint the exact cause, but suspects it may have been down to underestimation. "Maybe we approached it too much like: we'll just go and do it."