Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman believes his team is strong and will be in contention for the title. Koeman, champion of the European Championship as a player in 1988, believes that this year's tournament is wide open and his team is one of the contenders, reports BTA.
"In my opinion, there is no big favorite, maybe the French team is a little more than the others because they have a lot of experience and have already won big tournaments. But I think it will be an open battle between different nations – and one of them is the Netherlands", said Ronald Koeman.
The coach has cast doubt on injury reports in Poland's camp this week, suggesting it could be a bluff.
"I still expect them to play with two strikers and we have analyzed all their players. We know their forwards and what they can bring. It is always important to start well in the first game and win. If you can do it the way you intended it, then that's even better. It is very important to achieve a good result," Koeman added.
Squad captain Virgil van Dijk is also in that mood as he prepares to lead his team-mates into today's Group D clash in Hamburg.
"Obviously there are a lot of good teams around like France, Germany, Portugal, England. But I think in a tournament like this it could be completely different. We hope we can be the best. This is the goal and this is what we will fight for," commented Van Dijk.