There was a moment of double-take deep into the second half of a steamy, slightly wild Nations League semi-final at the Estádio Afonso Henriques. Frenkie De Jong took the ball in his own penalty area facing the Dutch goal and straight away heard the thundering hooves of Fabian Delph at his back, the white shirts sensing a turnover.
De Jong did something surprising. He slowed to a walk, floated left, half-turned, then flipped back the other way. Without looking up, but sure in his movements, he fizzed a hard, flat pass out 40 yards to a free orange shirt, the weight of the day, the breath of Delph, the dying moments of a semi-final, falling away from his shoulders like an evening mist.
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