Netherlands proved what they are capable of against Romania, says star man Gakpo | OneFootball

Netherlands star Cody Gakpo believes the Netherlands finally showed what they are capable of in their dominant 3-0 win over Romania.

Gakpo opened the scoring for his side as they sailed through to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 to play either Austria or Turkey.

And the Liverpool forward then set up his side’s second for Donyell Malen, beating Spurs defender Radu Gragusin at the byline to square it for his team-mate before Malen added his second and his side’s third with a fine solo goal late on.

Gakpo is now the joint leading scorer at Euro 2024 with three goals in the tournament so far as the Netherlands bounced back from an underwhelming group stage campaign which saw them finish third behind Austria and France.

They suffered a 3-2 defeat to Austria in their last outing and Gakpo says his side’s knockout win was the perfect response to that loss.

“Yeah I agree, I think especially after the last game we needed a reaction and I think today was a good step in the right direction,” Gakpo told the BBC when asked if this was the performance many people had been waiting for from the Netherlands.

“We talked a lot about our aggression, the intensity, defending like a team, so I think it was, like I said, a good step today and I’m very happy that we won and that we played a good game.

“I think the second goal summed up our performance. Sacrifice for each other and working very hard to do your best and I’m happy that I could assist Donyell with the goal.”

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