Player Ratings: Cody Gakpo’s Masterclass Secures Dutch Victory Over Romania and a Quarter-Finals Spot

The Netherlands have booked their place in the UEFA Euro 2024 quarterfinals with a win over Romania. The Dutch side dominated from start to end and gave their opponents no chance of a comeback.

Cody Gakpo opened the scoring in the first half with a powerful strike at the near post. Florin Nita should have done a lot better but the Romanian keeper was a second too slow to react and the ball went in.

Ronald Koeman’s side dominated possession and were creating chances for fun, but were just unable to convert any of them. They needed to wait until the 83rd minute to double their lead with Gakpo turning provider and Donyell Malen tapping it in.

Malen added another to his name in injury time with a stunning counter. Eased past the defenders and slotted it past Nita at the near post to make it 3-0 and seal the win.

Romania National Football Team Player Ratings vs Netherlands

GOALKEEPER

Florin Niță – 7: Was saved by his defenders today as he would have conceded at least 5 if they were off their game. Should have done better for the first goal and could have done a lot more for the second too.

DEFENDERS

Andrei Rațiu – 6.5: Cody Gakpo was twisting and turning the Romanian defender throughout the match, and he had no reply. Blocked two shots, but never got any help to contain the Dutch forward.

Radu Drăguşin – 8: Sensational effort from the Romanian star as it would have been much worse for them without his heroics in the defense. He was intercepting passes and clearing the ball throughout the match.

Andrei Burcă – 7: Decent game, but never managed to help Dargusin as much as he would have wanted. Failed to win any of his duels today.

Vasile Mogoș – 6.5: Had to be substituted in the first half as he was unable to continue after getting hit on his head.

MIDFIELDERS

Marius Marin – 6.5: Had to play in defense more as The Netherlands dominated possession. Hardly managed to get forward in the entire game.

Dennis Man – 6: Tried his best to get Romania in the game, but both his shots early in the game were off target.

Răzvan Marin – 6: All over the pitch and hardly managed to influence the play. Failed to get any shot away and managed just 19 passes.

Nicolae Stanciu – 6: Not a performance he would want to remember. Played 88 minutes, but managed just 32 touches and 16 passes.

Ianis Hagi – 7: Pick of the Romanian midfielders but he too was not great in the game. Managed just one shot and it was off target.

FORWARDS

Denis Drăguş – 6.5: Never really troubled the Dutch defense and was hardly helping out his teammates.

SUBSTITUTES

Bogdan Racovițan – 6.5

Alexandru Cicâldău – 6

Valentin Mihăilă – 6

Denis Alibec – 6

Darius Olaru – 6

MANAGER

Edward Iordănescu – 7

Netherlands National Football Team Player Ratings vs Romania

GOALKEEPER

Bart Verbruggen – 6.5: Had to make just one save in the game and the most he had to do was pass the ball when he was pressed inside the box.

DEFENDER

Denzel Dumfries – 8: Got booked for time-wasting but hardly put a foot wrong in defense. Could get an Oscar for his acting that stopped a Romanian counter as he went down holding his head when there was no contact.

Stefan de Vrij – 8: Should have scored in the first half but missed both his chances from the corner. Never troubled in defense.

Virgil van Dijk – 7.5: Should have done a lot better in the first half and his carelessness saw Romania get their best chance. However, he was lucky to see the shot go off target.

Nathan Aké – 7.5: Played just 70 minutes and was hardly troubled. Had two chances to score, but put his efforts wide.

MIDFIELDERS

Jerdy Schouten – 8: Stayed back and sat right in front of his defense throughout the game to ensure there was no counter from Romania. He misplaced three passes but won all his duels.

Tijjani Reijnders – 8: Drove into the box in the second half and it would have been a goal to remember if he had scored. However, it was blocked and that was the closest he came to scoring from the three shots.

Xavi Simons – 6.5: Got countless amount of chances to score but always got caught in two minds. Managed to get two passes, but should have got on the scoresheet too.

FORWARDS

Steven Bergwijn – 6: Got hooked off at halftime as he was hardly making it hard for Romania. Never managed to get into the game and was isolated.

Cody Gakpo – 9: Could have scored a hattrick today, but finished with one goal and an assist. Found the back of the net once more, but it was ruled out for offside.

Memphis Depay – 7: Should have got on the scoresheet today, but his shots were never on target.

SUBSTITUTES

Donyell Malen – 8

Micky van de Ven – 6

Joey Veerman – 6

Wout Weghorst – 6

Daley Blind – 6

MANAGER

Ronaldo Koeman – 8

Also Read: Euro 2024 Quarter-finals: Teams qualified, brackets, and match schedule