Tottenham ace Micky van de Ven suffers same old in Netherlands thriller vs Japan

Tottenham Hotspur star Micky van de Ven put in a mixed bag of a performance in the Netherland's World Cup opener against Japan.

Group F kicked-off in some style on Sunday evening, as the Netherlands and Japan played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in Dallas.

With the game scoreless at half-time, this one really came alive in the second half as four strikes hit the back of the net.

Van de Ven started the game at left-back for the Netherlands, earning his 22nd international cap for his country in the process.

However, despite leading 2-1 in the closing stages of the game, Oranje were unable to see home the three points as Daichi Kamada equalised in the 88th minute.

So, the Dutch will know they've got work to do if they are to avoid the disaster that would be failing to get out of their group, with Sweden sitting top after their 5-1 hammering of Tunisia.

How did Micky van de Ven fare vs Japan?

After playing the full 90 minutes in the Netherland's final pre-World Cup friendly game against Uzbekistan, Van de Ven would do the same against Japan.

Operating down the left side of defence, Ronald Koeman once again deployed the Tottenham centre-back on the flank, as he routinely does for the national team.

The 25-year-old has had mixed success for his country playing as a left-back, and that sentiment certainly rang true again on Sunday night. Indeed, it was a case of same old as he again flattered to deceive.

As per FotMob, Van de Ven completed 98 per cent of his passes accurately, whilst also being successful with his lone dribble and long ball attempts respectively.

He also played four passes into the final third, made four clearances, won two of his three aerial duels and was dispossessed zero times.

On the flip side, however, the Spurs star created zero chances, saw his only shot of the game go off target and failed to deliver his single cross attempt accurately.

Meanwhile, he won just the one tackle and made a single recovery, whilst coming out on top in two of his four ground duels and committed two fouls to boot.

To cap off his up and down display, he also picked up a yellow card in stoppage time at the end of the match for a tactical foul on Japan's Junya Ito.

Is Van de Ven's Netherlands role under any threat?

Van de Ven is a quality player, but a team's World Cup can be over before they know it if results aren't collected.

Therefore, managers can be ruthless in their team selections if they feel as though a certain player is proving to be a weak link in the side, or simply isn't performing well enough.

Koeman probably won't be there with Van de Ven after the opening game though, and when you look to the Dutch's bench, he doesn't appear to have much competition for the left-back job.

Manchester City's Nathan Ake and Chelsea's Jorrel Hato respectively can both play there, but like Van de Ven, are central defenders by trade.

So, don't expect to see anyone else other than the Tottenham star flying down the Dutch left flank when they take on Sweden in their next group game on Saturday.