Euro 2020 Qualifier: Netherlands Can Hurt Any Team – Kroos

Germany midfielder Toni Kroos talked up Netherlands’ improvement over the past two years and expects another tough test when the sides meet in Euro 2020 qualifying.
Four-time world champions Germany have won all three qualifiers ahead of today’s home match with Netherlands, who they beat 3-2 in their opening Group C match in March.
The Dutch got the better of their rivals in the UEFA Nations League last year however, and Kroos believes Ronald Koeman’s men have gone from strength to strength since failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
“They have improved so much in the last two years,” he said at yesterday’s pre-match news conference.
“Our games have always been tight and high quality. I’m expecting another tough match.
“With the amount of changes we’ve gone through, we’ve certainly not reached our limit yet. Netherlands can hurt any team. Our job is to stop them.”
Germany followed up their victory over Netherlands in Amsterdam with a 2-0 win away to Belarus and an 8-0 thumping of Estonia to leave them three points behind leaders Northern Ireland, who they face next week.
Joachim Low has used a front three in each of those games but will be without injured duo Leroy Sane and Leon Goretzka, who started the reverse fixture with Netherlands, for today’s clash at Volksparkstadion.
“Leon had a bit of a bruise after training yesterday,” Low told reporters. “It’s very important for a young team to gain familiarity, but we will still go into the game with a spring in our step despite the missing players.
“We want to keep playing with a front three. We can set up in a 4-3-3 or a 5-2-3, though. The team is very capable of doing both.
“Everyone is capable of showing their individual quality, but our unity and positional structure is our foundation.
Germany is also without Julian Draxler, Thilo Kehrer and Antonio Rudiger for their qualifying double-header and Low wants others to step up, such as three-cap midfielder Kai Havertz.