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The Netherlands reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Romania in Munich.
Romania came out of the blocks swinging with plenty of pace through midfield and into attack. Razvan Marin was electric on the right wing working wonderfully alongside Denis Dragus and Ianis Hagi. However, they failed to capitalise on their dominance and the Netherlands swung the momentum.
Jerdy Schouten threaded a fine pass over to Xavi Simons through the lines before Simons released the ball to Cody Gakpo. The Liverpool forward cut in from the left and smoked a fine effort past Florin Nita at the near post to open the scoring. Late in the game he kept the ball in play at the byline and assisted Donyell Malen for Netherland’s second. Malen then sealed the game with a counter-attacking strike in stoppage time.
Romania’s resistance was ended but they can be pleased with their tournament. The Dutch advance full of confidence for the quarter-finals.
But how did the individual players perform? Here are The Independent’s ratings for Romania v Netherlands:
Romania
Florin Nita – 5.
Should have done better for Cody Gakpo’s opener which snuck in at the near post but made a couple of decent stops in the second half.
Andrei Ratiu – 6.
Failed to close down Gakpo as he cut inside to score but responded well from that setback. Denied Memphis Depay from close range in the second half.
Radu Dragusin – 7.
Was the commander and often last man in defence for Romania. Blocked a shot from Tijjani Reijnders and perfectly timed a sliding tackle to dispossess Depay. Often found tidying up at the back, covering for teammates.
Andrei Burca – 6.
Good in the air but went missing on occasion when defending set pieces up against Stefan de Vrij, looked fairly solid as a centre-back partner to Radu Dragusin.
Vasile Mogos – 3.
Needed help on the left side for Romania to defend against the quick passing between Steven Bergwijn, Depay and Denzel Dumfries. Took a heavy hit in the first half and had to go off before half-time.
Marius Marin – 5.
Collected a yellow card for a tackle on Xavi Simons. Had to provide help for the defence which didn’t play to his strengths.
Dennis Man – 5.
Cut in from the right wing and blazed a fine effort over the top early in the first half when Romania were dominating. Went missing after Gakpo’s goal.
Nicolae Stanciu – 6.
Took a couple of free kicks and delivered great crosses into the box. His teammates couldn’t make use of the set ups.
Razvan Marin – 6.
Shook off a niggle in order to start the match and was a direct threat for Romania, driving forward and swinging crosses into the box.
Ianis Hagi – 7.
Despite taking a knock to the head early on he formed a lovely partnership with Razvan Marin and was unafraid to take on the Dutch defence. Found himself covering at left-back with limited success closing down Dumfries.
Denis Dragus – 6.
Worked hard and ran his socks off but was lacking in front of goal which is his main role. Sent a soft effort into the hands of Bart Verbruggen but couldn’t convert the half-chances Romania needed to win this one.
Subs
Bogdan Racovitan – 7, Valentin Mihaila – 6, Denis Alibec – 6, Alexandru Cicaldau – 6, Darius Olaru – n/a.
Netherlands
Bart Verbruggen – 6.
Wasn’t asked to do much after the opening 20 minutes, made no mistakes which is all you can ask for.
Denzel Dumfries – 7.
Strong defensive work to deny Ianis Hagi from reaching a cross early and drew blood from the Romanian forward as both men challenged for the ball. A big threat out wide when coming up the pitch and sending crosses into the box.
Stefan de Vrij – 6.
Sent a free header into the side-netting from a corner. Confidently defended his own box and carried the ball into midfield with the understanding that fellow centre-back Virgil van Dijk would stay back as cover.
Virgil van Dijk – 7.
Perhaps had more defending to do than he would have expected especially early in the game. Was a stable presence alongside De Vrij to keep Romania’s forwards from shooting inside the penalty area.
Nathan Ake – 6.
Had an unspectacular but consistent night.
Jerdy Schouten – 6.
Played a pinpoint pass through the lines to pick out Xavi Simons who released Gakpo for the opening goal.
Xavi Simons – 7.
A favourite among the fans and showed why. Happy to run with the ball, take on defenders and shoot from range giving Netherlands a constant threat high up the pitch.
Tijjani Reijnders – 6.
Had a shot blocked by Dragusin on the edge of the box, was also happy and effective linking play between midfield and the forward line.
Steven Bergwijn – 5.
Slow to get to grips with the pace of the game but became a threat in combination with a forward-thinking Dumfries. Replaced at half-time.
Memphis Depay – 6.
Had a great chance to score in the second half but his effort was blocked by Ratiu. Still waiting to make his mark for Netherlands.
Cody Gakpo – 9.
Scored a brilliant goal in the first half to send Netherlands into the lead. Cut in from the left smoking the shot past Florin Nita, had a second goal ruled out for offside, and set up Donyell Malen late in the game.
Subs
Donyell Malen – 8, Joey Veerman – 6, Micky van de Ven – 6, Wout Weghorst – n/a.
