The Orange will meet the winner of Argentina vs Australia in the quarter-finals on Friday. Argentina knocked out the Netherlands on penalties in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals.
Beauty is not a gift
The Netherlands did not apply for the beauty prize. 71-year-old national coach Louis van Gaal hailed the decision as the end of a long coaching career. Winning is all that matters, the way he wins is no longer important. Orange often left the ball to the opposition, who noticed that it was difficult to score against five Dutch defenders and a defensive midfielder in front of them.
The Netherlands, ranked 16th in the world, played at the opposite end. Van Gaal soon found his tactics working and some of his predictions coming true. Christian Pulisic’s opening goal in the 3rd minute was blocked by his new debut goalkeeper Andries Nobert with a good save, and Memphis Depay scored in the 10th minute. Van Gaal slowly brought his top scorer into this match after a long hamstring injury.
Debe opened the scoring after a brilliant attack of not less than twenty balls. The ball went from left to right and eventually Denzel served the Dumfries striker level. Daley also assisted the right-back to make it 2-0 to Blind in first-half stoppage time. The left foot beat the right, just like in the consolation final of the World Cup in Brazil eight years ago.
LUCKY ON GOLE VS
The Orange started with players who also featured in their last group match against Qatar. Davy Klaassen and Martin de Roon stayed in the dressing room for Steven Bergwijn and Dean Koopmeiners after the break. The Orange played the way Debe wanted, with Bergwijn next to him and Kakpo behind. Kakpo stood first on Walker Zimmerman’s 2-1 count. After that, Bergwijn and Depay made it 3-0.
It looked like there was little more to it until Debe got his hands on the ball and Haji Wright almost scored. The same Wright scored in the 76th minute with a lucky shot. Under Blind’s instructions, the Dutch responded very quickly with a 3-1 win over Dumfries in the 81st minute. For example, back pain is very important for the Netherlands. Dumfries had a goal and two assists. Blind hit and set up a win.