Romania was hunting for its first quarterfinal in a championship context in 24 years.
But Cody Gakpo wanted otherwise.
The 25-year-old stood for both goal and assist when the Netherlands reached the quarterfinal after a 3-0 win.
The Netherlands are clear for the quarterfinal in the European Championship after knocking out one of the championship's big surprises, Romania. And much of it can be thanked to Cody Gakpo. The winger, who normally plays for Liverpool, stood for a really sharp match and was involved in most of the offensive play for his Netherlands.
Up in goal-scoring lead
The 25-year-old took matters into his own hands already after 20 minutes when he cut in from the side and pushed the ball in at the first post. It's his sixth championship goal in just ten European Championship or World Championship matches total.
A goal that didn't come as a shock to one of the team doctors, according to Gakpo.
He said to me already last night: "You're going to score the first goal". Then I just replied: If I do, I'll run out to you, which I did, says Gakpo according to AFP.
The goal not only meant that the Netherlands took the lead in the match, but also that he climbs up to shared goal-scoring lead in the European Championship with three goals. Also, Georges Mikautadze (Georgia), Jamal Musiala (Germany), and Ivan Schranz (Slovakia) have scored three goals so far.
Behind everything
Gakpo continued to create chance after chance. If it wasn't him finishing, he played the pass. The Liverpool winger also had another ball in the net, but after a VAR check, the goal was disallowed for offside.
A bit later, in the 83rd minute, Gakpo drove in from the side again and played Donyell Malen free, who could roll in 2-0 from close range. Malen then became a two-goal scorer after establishing the final score to 3-0 in stoppage time.
After the last match (2-3 loss to Austria) we needed a reaction and today I think we took a step in the right direction, says Gakpo.
Thus, Romania, which surprisingly won its group ahead of Belgium, Slovakia, and Ukraine, is out.
In the quarterfinal, the winner of the last round of 16 between Austria and Turkey awaits. It will be played later on Tuesday evening and starts at 21.00.
