In the early morning of July 3, Beijing time, the 1/8 finals of the European Cup continued, with the Netherlands playing against Romania.
The Dutch team is ranked 7th in the world, with a total team value of 815 million euros, but their performance in the group stage was not satisfactory, defeating Poland 2-1 in the first round, drawing 0-0 with France in the second round, and losing 2-3 to Austria in the third round.
Romania is ranked 47th in the world and is a second-rate team in Europe, with a total team value of only 92.13 million euros, the lowest total value among the 24 teams participating in the European Championship. However, Romania's performance in the group stage was eye-catching, defeating Ukraine 3-0 in the first round, losing 0-2 to Belgium in the second round, and drawing 1-1 with Slovakia in the third round.
The Netherlands formed a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Bergwijn, Depay and Gakpo up front, captain Virgil van Dijk continuing to lead the back line, and Inders, Xavi Simons and Schouten in midfield. Romania formed a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Dragus up front and a midfield led by captain Stanciu, who had played in the Chinese Super League.
The Dutch team kicked off, and both sides were in the tentative stage in the opening stage, and in the third minute, Dumfries accidentally hit Haji on the head with an elbow, and Haji's head was red and quickly entered the game after a simple bandage by the team doctor. Harvey Simmons doesn't threaten much with a long-range shot. After a period of chaos, the two sides were in turmoil, and several long balls from Romania into the box were still very threatening, but the Dutch defense also followed up in time to clear the ball. The Dutch were also looking to take advantage of long balls and were awarded three corners midway through the first half. In the 20th minute, the Netherlands broke the deadlock on the field, Gakpo cut inside the box from a 45-degree position on the left, and his powerful shot from a tight angle broke the goal, giving the Netherlands a 1-0 lead.
After that, Romania had good chances in a series of links up front, but Denis Mann's shot was ridiculously wide. In the second half, the Netherlands made a series of corners, and the fifth corner of the Dutch team was driven into the box, and De Vrij's header was slightly deflected. After that, the Dutch team continued to attack, Romania's penalty area was noisy, and in the 30th minute, the Dutch team's right corner kick was driven to the penalty area, and Dragusin was key to clear the siege to resolve the crisis.
The Dutch continued to attack on the right, but the Romanian defenders were able to clear the ball in time. In the second half of the first half, the ball was always passed at the feet of the Dutch team, and the Romanians pressed the defense to ensure that the score was not expanded. In the 41st minute of the first half, the Netherlands won the 10th corner of the game, and Depay drove the corner out of bounds. Romania did not have a single corner, and Romania was completely in a passive defensive state. In the final stages of normal time in the first half, Romania made a mistake near the baseline, Dumfries made a tackle and then passed back, and Xavi Simons hesitated unmarked and finally shot wide. In stoppage time, Nita found Haji with a long ball that was flicked to Dragus, who was easily denied by the goalkeeper with a long-range shot. In the final stages of stoppage time, Romania were awarded the first corner of the game, but Hadji's corner was cleared by Van Dijk. At the end of the first half, the Netherlands led Romania 1-0.
In the first half, the Dutch team led with 73% possession, 7:4 lead in shots, and 10:1 in corner kicks, Romania was able to organize some attacks in the opening stage, and the ball was always passed at the feet of the Dutch team in the second half of the first half, but Romania's defenders also followed very closely, and the score was fixed at 1-0 in the first half.
Romania, who had fallen behind at the start of the second half, stepped up their attack and had more free-kick opportunities in front, but the Dutch defence was solid and Romania did not pose a threat to the goal. After that, the Dutch team continued to launch an offensive in the front, and in the 53rd minute, Malen and Depay's shots were blocked continuously, and the Dutch team missed the opportunity to expand the score. Gakpo made a steal and got past three men and his long-range shot from the edge of the box was saved by the goalkeeper. In the 64th minute, the Netherlands took a corner kick, and in a scuffle, Gakpo stabbed the goal, but the referee signaled offside and the first goal was invalidated.
Depay's free-kick then went wide of the post, and the Netherlands missed chances in quick succession. The game entered the middle of the second half, and both sides began to make substitutions. The Dutch team Ake and Schouten were replaced, and J. Ferman and Van der Veen came off the bench. The Romanian team made three substitutions in a row to try to strengthen the attack.
In the 72nd minute, Gakpo passed the ball to Wellman in the box with his back-heel, and Wellman's shot from a tight angle on the left side of the box went slightly wide. After that, the Dutch continued to lead in possession, and with the last ten minutes of normal time, the Dutch counter-attacked with a three-on-two, but Gakpo's shot was blocked, and the Dutch continued to miss the opportunity to extend the score. In the 82nd minute, Romania made a mistake in clearing, Gakpo burst to the bottom line and crossed under the double defense, and Malen stabbed in front of the goal, and the Netherlands extended its lead 2-0.
In stoppage time, the Dutch team counterattacked, Malen ran all the way to the penalty area on the left side and scored again with a volley, Malen scored twice, and the Dutch team sealed the win 3-0.
The Netherlands defeated Romania 3-0 to advance to the quarter-finals, making the Netherlands the seventh team to reach the quarter-finals of this European Championship, while Romania unfortunately stopped in the round of 16.