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Arjen Robben tells Dutch women not to play at World Cup with ‘s*** in their pants’
Arjen Robben tells Dutch women not to play at World Cup with 's*** in their pants',Arjen Robben spoke to the Netherlands national team at their training base as they gear up for the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next month

Arjen Robben tells Dutch women not to play at World Cup with ‘s*** in their pants’

Arjen Robben visited the Netherlands side ahead of the Women's World Cup – telling them "don't s*** your pants" if they reach the final again.

The Oranje Leeuwinnen came agonisingly close to being crowned world champions for the first time in their history back in 2019, falling to a 2-0 loss to the United States and finishing runners-up.

They'll be looking to go one better in Australia and New Zealand next month and training is already underway at their base in Zeist, which was this week visited by Robben.

He offered them his advice having also tasted defeat in a World Cup final back in 2010. Robben said: “How do you respond to that pressure? How do you cope with it?

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"Will you look at it in a negative or a positive way? I experienced that in the Champions League final. At that time we had already lost the final twice. If you lose it again, you become that person that always loses

“I only had one thing on my mind: Whatever happens, today we will win. That's the most important thing. If you think 's***, a World Cup final, maybe I'll never experience this again', then you're already wrong.

“You know what you need to do, you know what you are capable of. If you made it so far, you know what makes you strong. Then do that.

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Dutch women's national team training
The Dutch women are gearing up for the World Cup next month (Image: Hollandse Hoogte/REX/Shutterstock)

“You have to think: 'yes, today we make sure that we will win the World Cup. Or that we will be in the final or semi-final.' That defines the best of the best, the strongest.

"When it comes down to it they do the right thing. 'This is what I’m good at'. If you enter the pitch and you already s*** your pants, you should stay inside."

A dejected Arjen Robben of Netherlands as his team mates surround Referee Howard Webb from England at the end of the game
Robben was speaking from experience having lost in the final to Spain back in 2010 (Image: Getty Images)

Winger Lieke Martens was part of the side that lost in the final four years ago. She believes they've got what it takes to avenge that this time around.

"It'll be a tough challenge, but nothing is impossible," Martens said in an interview with FIFA. "I’m going to give everything I can to be as prepared as I can be.

"I also trust in this team. I just hope we can get into the flow. The character in the team is back and maybe we can achieve something beautiful again at this World Cup.”