On July 3, Beijing time, the European Cup 16 into 8 ushered in the last match day, after which all the top 8 will be produced, the first game, the orange team Netherlands against the dark horse Romania.
The battle between the two teams is known as the matchup between the strongest third and the weakest first; In the group stage, both teams won 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss in their respective groups, and finally the Netherlands finished third in this group; Romania, on the other hand, topped the group on goal difference.
The Dutch team is ranked 7th in the world, with a total team value of 834 million euros, and most of the players in the team are from the five major leagues.
Romania is ranked 46th in the world and the team is worth 95.83 million euros, the lowest among any team in the European Championship.
However, Romania's quality is far greater than their value, their style of play is more holistic, their actions are very unified at both ends of the pitch and their tactical execution of the coach is very resolute.
After the start of the game, the Netherlands withstood Romania's three-board axe, gradually regained the initiative on the field, and pressed the Romanian half of the crazy siege;
The pace of the game in the first half was very fast, and the head coach of the Dutch team made adjustments to the lineup, putting the teenager Simons on the left side, and putting the former substitute Bergwijn on the right side.
In the 19th minute of the first half, the Dutch goal was a reflection of this, Gakpo picked up the ball on the left and chose to cut inside, and fired a fierce shot at 120 mph, the ball went straight through the netted door guarded by Nita.
Gakpo also scored his third goal of the tournament and is joint top scorer in the charts.
After scoring a goal, the Dutch players changed their spirits and played more relaxedly, with teenager Simons also showing off his flower feet, and veteran Depay also showed off a corner kick with the outside of his instep directly on goal.
However, the Netherlands were scoreless for the remainder of the period, and before half-time, Romania again made a late three-game to no avail.
Although there was only one goal in the first half, the two teams played very well, with confrontation and speed, and the Netherlands was no longer as lifeless as in the group stage, while Romania's style of play has always been very spectacular;
Comparison of the stats of the two teams (Romania in front): 7-4 shots on goal; 1-1 on target; Corners 1-10; Possession (%): 27-73.
Although Romania conceded early, it did not take the liberty of attacking, which is also the characteristic of many weak teams playing strong teams in this European Cup.
After the start of the second half, the Netherlands did not choose to take over the attack after Romania finished the three-board axe, but continued to defend in their own half.
In the 65th minute, the Netherlands almost expanded the score, a corner kick opportunity, Ake grabbed the first nod to the goal, Gakpo stepped forward to push the goal, but after VAR review, Gakpo was offside first, and the goal was invalid.
With the characteristics of the Netherlands, I really hoped that Romania could attack so that their counterattack could be fought, but their last move was always a little bit less interesting. However, at the crucial moment, Romania's disadvantage was reflected, and the lack of ability of the players allowed them to face the Dutch luxury backline, even if they pressed it, they could not form a substantial attack. As long as the Netherlands don't make mistakes themselves, it will be difficult for Romania to break through the opponent's door.
However, Romania did not wait for the Netherlands to make a mistake, but they made a mistake first, and in the 82nd minute, Gakpo broke through the bottom line on the left side, made physical contact with the Romanian defender, and passed the ball to the middle of the triangle before going out of bounds, and Malen pushed the empty goal. The Romanian defender misjudged the ball and let his guard down when he thought the ball was out of bounds, giving Gakpo space to pass the ball.
After the Dutch team scored the second goal, the Romanian players were a little disappointed, and also lost the fighting spirit to equalize, at the last moment, Malen scored twice on a quick counterattack, and the Netherlands defeated Romania 3-0 to easily advance, Gakpo performed the best in this game, a pass and a shot was the hero of the Dutch victory, Malen scored two goals, and was the first player to score two goals in a single game in this European Cup.
The Netherlands was lucky in this European Cup, but the third place in the group was drawn and avoided all the big ones; However, with this match, the familiar Dutch team is back, and they will face the winner between Austria and Turkey in the quarter-finals.
Also thanks to Romania for bringing a great match to the fans who stayed up late.