Netherlands' Virgil van Dijk, Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong and Nathan Ake celebrates progressing to the quarter finals of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at the Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar, on December 3, 2022 REUTERS/Lee Smith.
The Netherlands put up a strong show to beat USA 3-1 and move into the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup at the Khalifa International Stadium.
The opening Round of 16 clash yesterday saw a fine show of finishing by the Louis van Gaal’s men who justified their reputation as one of the title contenders in Qatar.
Gregg Berhalter’s USA started off well but the Dutch soon gained control of the match with Denzel Dumfries playing part in all three goals for the three-time finalists, who reached the World Cup quarter-finals for the seventh time.
The Inter Milan right-back first assisted Memphis Depay for an opening goal in the 10th minute before setting up Daley Blind for their second goal (45+1 minute) just before the break.
After substitute Haji Wright brought the Americans back into the game with a 76th minute goal, Dumfries himself netted the decisive one, five minutes later to take the match beyond USA’s reach.
"We want to improve and every game it’s getting a little better, that’s my feeling,” said Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk.
“We had two fantastic goals. What else do you want? And we had that goal against us, I have no idea how it went in.”
"Yeah it was better, but we’re critical. I think everyone in the Netherlands is critical because we can also really play football, and we want to show that. We did show it pretty often I think, but we’re in the quarter-final,” he added.
The Netherlands will meet Argentina, who defeated Australia 2-1, in the quarter-final at Lusail Stadium on Friday.
Dutch came into the match amid criticism over their performance despite finishing on top of Group A after an unbeaten run, and they were at the receiving end in the start.
The game started off brightly for the Americans, who with their fierce pressing took the Dutch under pressure in the start and got their best chance of the match in the second minute.
Christian Pulisic, who started the match after recovering from a pelvic contusion, could have given USA an early lead but Andries Noppert made a brilliant save with his boot to deny the Chelsea forward.
The Netherlands gained control and soon went into the lead in a counter attack with Dumfries setting up Depay, who fired a right-footed kick on the left for the lead.
The Dutch team had a chance to double their lead eight minutes after their opening goal but Blind hit over the bar from a good position inside the box.
Van Gaal’s men produced a similar display to score their second goal as Dumfries this time found Blind, who put the ball past Matt Turner with comfort after Noppert made a save to deny a fine hit by Timothy Weah from edge of the box.
The Americans were cheered with the chants of “USA, USA” by a partisan crowd at the iconic venue filled with 44,846 fans as they looked to fight back after the break.
Berhalter’s side was creating opportunities with second-half substitute Gio Reyna and Pulisic making attempts at goal.
In one of the counter attacks, Dutchman Cody Gakpo, who was looking to become the first player to score in four consecutive World Cup games, saw his hit blocked by Turner, who then tipped a shot by Depay over the bar.
Wright, who came off the bench in the 67th minute, changed pace of the game after looping the ball into the net past Noppert.
But Dumfries put the match beyond USA’s reach by sealing victory after receiving a deep cross from Blind.
“This is a difficult one to handle,” US coach Berhalter said after the match.
“It’s such a good group of guys, such a close group of guys, and we came up short today but not for a lack of trying, not for a lack of effort,” he added.
