{"id":253747,"date":"2022-11-29T18:34:41","date_gmt":"2022-11-29T19:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=253747"},"modified":"2022-11-30T05:59:13","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T05:59:13","slug":"dutchmen-send-qatar-crashing-to-new-low","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=253747","title":{"rendered":"Dutchmen send Qatar crashing to new low"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Netherlands<\/a> still has a long way to go to match the \u201ctotal football\u201d teams of the 1970s, or even the more offensive \u201cOranje\u201d squads that reached the World Cup<\/a> final in 2010 and finished third in 2014.<\/p>\n

Still, a 2-0 win over Qatar<\/a> on Wednesday morning AEDT ensured the Dutch advanced to the round of 16 by finishing first in Group A while the Qataris, who were already eliminated, became the first host to lose all three of its group matches at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you play against Qatar everybody will think and expect that you\u2019ll win 5-0 or more, but this tournament has shown that it\u2019s very difficult," Netherlands midfielder Davy Klassen, who earned player of the match honours, said through a translator.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re very critical of ourselves and we need to improve," Klassen added. "But we have progressed and we\u2019re going to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AL<\/p>\n

Cody Gakpo put the Netherlands ahead midway through the first half with his third goal in as many matches and Frenkie de Jong doubled the advantage five minutes into the second half.<\/p>\n

The Netherlands is a three-time runner-up at the World Cup, and also finished third in 2014, while Qatar was making its tournament debut.<\/p>\n

Qatar won the 2019 Asian Cup but the team\u2019s Spanish coach, Felix Sanchez, said that tournament can\u2019t be compared to the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came here trying to compete and we managed to do that,\u201d Sanchez said, adding that he wasn\u2019t sure about his future status with the team.<\/p>\n

\"DOHA,<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things about our national team is that we have a long-term plan that doesn\u2019t depend on me or anyone else,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to rest for a few days and we\u2019re going to keep working and planning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Netherlands, which failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, finished with seven points at the top of the group. Senegal, which beat Ecuador 2-1 in the other group game, advanced in second place with six points. Ecuador was eliminated with four points and Qatar ended up with zero.<\/p>\n

The attendance at Al Bayt Stadium, which also hosted Qatar\u2019s loss to Ecuador in the tournament opener, was given as 66,784 \u2014 nearly at full capacity. There were small pockets of orange-clad Netherlands supporters, and Qatar fans behind one of the goals chanted in unison and jumped up and down.<\/p>\n

\"Senegal<\/p>\n

At one point during the second half, Qatar fans held aloft a large Palestinian flag that said \u201cFree Palestine\u201d on it.<\/p>\n

In the 26th minute, Gakpo took control outside the area, dribbled forward and unleashed a powerful side-footed shot between two defenders that entered inside the right post.<\/p>\n

Gakpo became the fourth Dutch player to score in three consecutive World Cup games after Johan Neeskens (1974), Dennis Bergkamp (1994) and Wesley Sneijder (2010). He also became only the second player to open the scoring for his team three times in the same group stage after Alessandro Altobelli for Italy in 1986.<\/p>\n

\u201cCody Gakpo has everything it takes to become a star,\u201d 71-year-old Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal said. \u201cPlus he has a wonderful personality. He\u2019s open minded to everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AL<\/p>\n

De Jong\u2019s goal came when he sprinted forward uncontested to knock in a rebound from close range following a shot from Memphis Depay.<\/p>\n

A possible third goal for the Netherlands by Steven Berghuis was waved off following a video review for a handball in the buildup.<\/p>\n

Berghuis then hit the bar in added time.<\/p>\n

While the Netherlands dominated the possession and created many more chances, Qatar did push forward on occasion and there was a nervous moment for the Dutch when goalkeeper Andries Noppert had trouble collecting a long-range shot from Ismael Mohamed after Gakpo\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by <\/strong><\/em>clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Netherlands still has a long way to go to match the \u201ctotal football\u201d teams of the 1970s, or even the more offensive \u201cOranje\u201d squads […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253747"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=253747"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253749,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253747\/revisions\/253749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=253747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=253747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=253747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}