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Zlatan Ibrahimovic has slammed Ronald Koeman for abandoning the Netherlands’ ‘identity’ in their World Cup defeat to Morocco.
The Netherlands were beaten on penalties in the round of 32 in Monterrey on Monday night.
Despite taking a second half lead through Cody Gakpo, the three-time finalists could not hold on to secure victory.
Instead, Issa Diop equalised for Morocco in stoppage time, with neither side able to break the deadlock in the additional period.
Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber and Crysencio Summerville all subsequently missed from 12 yards for the Netherlands.
Those errors allowed the 2022 semi-finalists to advance to the round of 16 despite Neil El Aynaoui missing their first spot-kick.
Achraf Hakimi also hit the post with his effort, but his blushes were spared by Ismael Saibari’s winning penalty.
Ibrahimovic did not hold back with his assessment of the Netherlands’ performance following their exit from this summer’s tournament.
The former Sweden striker took aim at Koeman’s defensive set-up, blaming the manager for his side’s exit.
Also Read: World Cup 2026:Mazraoui Talks Up Morocco’s ‘Difficult’ Win Over Netherlands
Ibrahimovic played under Koeman during his breakthrough years at Ajax in the early noughties.
Reacting on FOX Sports’ post-match coverage (via talkSPORT), Ibrahimovic said: “I think this loss is on Koeman because I didn’t recognise this Dutch team.
“He lost with an identity that is not the Dutch identity and that makes me angry. Lose with your identity. That’s who you are.”
The Netherlands ended the match with less than 30 per cent possession and had just two shots on target in 120 minutes.
