Netherlands were the first team to claim a spot into the World Cup Quarter Finals as they beat the U.S.A. 3-1 in the first Round of 16 matchup. The Dutch built a comfortable double lead with Memphis Depay and Daley Blind before half time and rounded up the scoring with Denzel Dumfries right after Haji Wright had halved the gap for the Americans.
Louis Van Gaal’s side kept progressing in the world tournament giving the impression that they have still not given all they have. The U.S. made their job easier tonight with a barrage of defensive mistakes that the Oranje took full advantage of. Netherlands will now face the winner of the upcoming Argentina vs Australia matchup on Friday.
Gregg Berhalter’s side found themselves two goals down at half time as they conceded twice in pretty much the same way. On 10 minutes, Inter winger Dumfries cut the ball in from the right side, finding Depay all free to shot in the middle of the box for the Dutch’s opener.
Three minutes before the break, it was defender Blind to be serviced by Dumfries, and he as well had all the time in the world to whip the ball past Matt Turner, making it 2-0.
U.S.A. had had a chance to break the balance early in the game as Christian Pulisic was brilliantly picked by Weston McKennie in the middle of the box, but the Chelsea man lost his one-on-one battles with Adries Noppert. The Dutch goalkeeper shone again on 42 minutes as he pushed back a dangerous challenge from Tim Weah.
Despite trailing by two, Berhlater’s side showed that they still had something to say after the restart. From a corner kick action, center back Tim Ream failed to connect properly with the ball from close range. That gave Cody Gakpo the possibility to clear it right on the goal line so that, for one night, the PSV winger did not score but still somehow gave his contribution.
The Dutch looked for a third goal but Turner used his instinct and reflexes to deflect a Depay tap in, then denied again the Barcelona man as he pushed above the bar his shot from outside the box.
Netherlands looked in control but somehow overconfident: from a careless back pass, Wright sneaked into the box with the ball on his feet but run too wide and ended up losing the right timing for his shot, that was eventually cleared by Dumfries.
It was a warning sign that the Dutch didn’t listen to, as Wright found the back of net – albeit a bit casually – just a couple minutes later. From a corner kick action, Pulisic crossed the ball in the middle of the box and the Antalyaspor player tripped as he went for it. The result was a bizarre lob that caught Noppert and Dumfries by surprise on the goal line and bounced into the back of the net.
With 15 minutes to go, the U.S. could attempt a comeback but wasted it all 5 minutes later with another colossal blunder at the back. As Blind crossed the ball from the left flank, the whole U.S. defensive line failed to mark Dumfries at the far post and for the Inter winger it was child’s play to fire it past Turner, setting the score at 3-1.
The Netherlands’ World Cup dream can continue, while the U.S. will now have four years to work on their weak points as they prepare to host the tournament in 2026.
MATCH SCORECARD
December 3, 2022 – FIFA World Cup Round of 16
NETHERLANDS – U.S.A. 3-1
SCORERS: 10′ Depay (N), 45’+1′ Blind (N), 76′ Wright (U), 81′ Dumfries
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NETHERLANDS (3-4-1-2): Noppert; Timber, Van Dijk, Ake (93′ De Ligt); Dumfries, De Roon (46′ Koopmeiners), F. De Jong, Blind; Klaassen (46′ Bergwijn); Gakpo (93′ Weghorst), Depay (82′ Simons) (Pasveer, Bijlow, De Vrij, Taylor, Berghuis, L. De Jong, Lang, Malacia, Janssen, Frimpong) Coach: Van Gaal |
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U.S.A. (4-3-3): Turner; Dest (75′ Yedlin), Zimmerman, Ream, Robinson (92′ Morris); Adams, Musah, McKennie (67′ Wright); Weah (67′ Aaronson), Ferreira (46′ Reyna), Pulisic (Horvath, Johnson, De la Torre, Long, Roldan, Morre, Carter-Vickers, Perry-Acosta, Scally) Coach: Berhalter |
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Koopmeiners, F. De Jong (N); Added Time: 1st Half 1′, 2nd Half 6′
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