Xavi Simons scores decisive goal for the Netherlands against Bosnia-Herzegovina

Xavi Simons has scored again for the Dutch national team and expressed his relief after his difficult start. "Everything comes with time, I wasn't worried," said the RB Leipzig attacker. The 21-year-old scored the final goal in the 5:2 defeat against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Nations League. It was his second goal in his 20th game for Oranje after scoring in the 2-1 draw against England in the European Championship semi-final.

Now happy at Oranje

Simons has been the key player at his club RB Leipzig for more than a year. Things did not go well with the national team for a long time, and the unaccustomed criticism caused Simons a difficult time after 19 games without a goal. "I had to swallow hard for a while. But that's part of the whole thing. Now I feel a good dynamic at Oranje and I'm very happy," said the playmaker.

As recently as March, Bonds coach Ronald Koeman had publicly counted Simons out - after a clear 4-0 win over Scotland. "He makes it too complicated. He must slowly learn that we don't benefit from losing the ball in the Netherlands," said the 61-year-old. The newspaper "AD" judged at the time: "Xavi Simons was once again unconvincing."

Special motivation against Germany

Those days seem to be over. Simons, who is on loan to Leipzig from Paris Saint-Germain, is now looking forward to the game against Germany on Tuesday. "The fact that I'm playing for Leipzig is extra motivation for me," said Simons. "I made a very conscious decision to stay there and develop further. After that, we'll take the next step."

That doesn't sound like staying in Leipzig, especially as the Saxons don't have an option to buy and could hardly afford a purchase. Simons was already heavily courted in the summer, with FC Bayern Munich wanting to sign the dribbling artist. However, Simons, who trained at FC Barcelona, ultimately decided to stay in Leipzig for another year.