In the seventh 1/8 final of the 2024 European Cup, the Netherlands team played against the Romanian team, and the two sides competed for a precious place in the top 8, and in the end, the Dutch team won 3-0 and returned to the top 8 of the European Cup after 16 years! So far, 7 places have been released for this European Championship, and the last one will be between Austria and Turkey.
Romania are in Group E in the group stage, and after three rounds, all four teams in this group have four points, and Romania advanced to the round of 16 by topping the group, and even beat the world's No. 3 Belgium, which is somewhat surprising, and it is worth mentioning that Romania's only win in the group stage was a 3-0 victory. The Netherlands were in Group D, also known as the "Group of Death", and they lost to Austria in the final round to finish third in the group and advance to the round of 16.
Of course, the third place in the group unexpectedly allowed the Dutch team to avoid the death half, and the previous 14 times against the Romanian team, the Dutch team has won 10 games, only lost 1 game, occupying a clear psychological advantage, the last 4 meetings, the Dutch team has won all of them. Overall, the Dutch team has a better chance of qualifying, but the Romanian team also has the possibility of an upset.
In the first half, the Dutch team still had a certain advantage, especially the possession rate exceeded 70%, and Gakpo's shot scored to give the Dutch team a 1-0 lead. In the second half, Gakpo scored again, but it was blown away. Even so, the Netherlands doubled their advantage on 83 minutes when Malen opened the scoring with great individual prowess and scored again in stoppage time, with Malen scoring a brace.
Congratulations again to the Dutch team!