In the UEFA Euro round of 16 match, Gakpo scored and assisted, while Depay netted a brace coming off the bench, leading the Netherlands to a 3-0 victory over Romania and progression to the quarter-finals. After the game, Dutch head coach Ronald Koeman spoke to the media.
Koeman commented, “Sometimes it’s hard to explain why we don’t play well at times and then perform at a high level on other occasions. Today’s start was difficult, but we eventually found our rhythm and caused them problems. Perhaps the only thing to criticize is that it took us too long to score the second goal. Our attacking play created significant issues for Romania.”
“The final result is always crucial. We’re Dutch, and we have to play well. Today’s overall performance was excellent, which is why we could build our lead. If we drop in performance, we won’t advance.”
Speaking about comparisons with previous Dutch teams, Koeman said, “We have fantastic talents in our squad. Of course, you need to win something for people to compare you with the 1988 team, but football has changed since then. You can see in recent matches that every team struggles at some point; no one has an easy ride.”
When discussing Gakpo, Koeman remarked, “He showed his importance once again. He’s strong physically, fast, and has that extra edge.”
Koeman: We played well, the only downside was the second goal came too late. Author：Sports UEFA.Please indicate the source when reproduced：https://www.sportsuefa.com/football-world/koeman-we-played-well-the-only-downside-was-the-second-goal-came-too-late.html
