Reijnders to give hat-trick match ball to his son

Tijjani Reijnders said he would give his son the match ball after scoring a hat-trick in the Netherlands’ 7-0 Nations League win over Greece. The ball, signed by the Dutch players, was his reward for scoring three times.

“I can let him play with it for a while; he’ll like that,” Reijnders said after the match in Amsterdam. He added that some of his team-mates had written messages alongside their signatures.

The Al Qadsiah midfielder became the first Netherlands international to score a hat-trick before half-time since Marco van Basten in 1990. The Dutch were already 5-0 ahead at the break.

Reijnders said the win was worth taking confidence from, describing Greece as a good team after it had avoided defeat against Germany in the previous international window. The Netherlands need only a draw against Germany in Berlin to finish top of their Nations League group. Reijnders said the team would instead aim to win.