Virgil Van Dijk And Cody Gakpo Help The Netherlands Advance To Euro Semis

Van Dijk was fantastic in defense while Cody Gakpo caused the winning goal as the Netherlands defeated Turkiye 2-1.

Photo by Roy Lazet/Soccrates/Getty Images

While the Netherlands name will always have a certain cachet due to their historic association with Total Football, the more recent iterations of the national team have struggled to impress while adopting a more pragmatic style of play. The current Dutch side barely made it out of the group stages after finishing third in Group D before thumping an overmatched Romania side 3-0 in the Round of 16.

Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo were in the starting lineup for the Oranje as they faced off with an organized and efficient Turkiye side in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Gakpo continued to play a key role for his national team from the left side of the attack, and almost set up an early goal with a nifty nutmeg setting Memphis Depay into the box before the former Manchester United man skied his opportunity.

Virgil van Dijk was again immense in the back for the Netherlands, both literally and figuratively, dealing with both the quick counter attacks from Turkiye as well as a bevy of dangerous set piece deliveries. Despite his efforts, Turkiye opened the scoring off of a set piece opportunity. Van Dijk was on hand to head the initial ball in clear off of a corner, but Denzel Dumfries inexplicably dropped deep behind the rest of the defensive line, keeping three Turkish players onside for the second ball in, including Samet Akaydin, who powered a free header into the net from close range.

How angry would you have to be to use delicious, gooey, cheesy pizza as a weapon? If your first thought is, “I would never weaponize that sweet treat,” then congratulations – you are a good person. Unfortunately, not all are like you. In 2004, Arsenal visited Manchester United. They brought with them an unbeaten streak of 49 matches – quite impressive regardless of how much you know about soccer (pronounced “football” outside of the US).

These teams had a bit of bad blood between them, basically battling as bewildered bystanders basked in their beauty. This time though, it spilled over to after the game. We’ve already told you what happens (pizza toss, sorry, spoiler), but enjoy this journey into a seemingly fictional land where some fool would throw away such a delicious treat, all in the name of rivalry.

With the Netherlands trailing and struggling to find any consistent attacking edge in the box, Wout Weghorst was introduced to start the second half. Gakpo provided some good service from the left for the height of Weghorst in the middle, and almost connected on a couple of the opportunities. The Netherlands found a lifeline from Stefan de Vrij with the defender heading home in the 70th minute.

Just six minutes later Gakpo flew in at the back post, throwing his body at the ball as it somehow evaded the advancing goalkeeper and ending in the net to give the Netherlands a 2-1 lead. While the goal was initially credited to Gakpo, giving the Liverpool man the lead in the Golden Boot race, replays showed the ball taking a final deflection off of Mert Müldür. The goal was eventually changed to an own goal taking Gakpo back into a tie with several other players with 3 goals for the tournament.

Gakpo almost got himself back into the Golden Boot lead just before the end of regulation, making a fantastic run into the box to meet a low cross with a strong volley at full sprint. The powerful shot was too close to the goalkeeper, however, and it was batted away.

Van Dijk and the Netherlands defense put up a massive rearguard effort to withstand a fierce late surge from Turkiye. Dutch defenders put their bodies on the line with last-ditch efforts to block shots and clear their lines. Virgil van Dijk paced the defense with 6 headers won and 7 clearances. In the end, it was just enough to see the Netherlands through to take on England in the semifinals.