The Netherlands announced its secret weapon at the World Cup when Sweden revealed its true strength
The Netherlands put in a dominant performance to beat Sweden 5-1 at the World Cup, with Brian Brobbey scoring twice and Cody Gakpo also scoring twice.
Before the match, the discussion focused mainly on Sweden's outstanding strikers. Coach Graham Potter was asked three times about Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres, and how he can maximize their talents. Ronald Koeman was also asked if he was afraid of them. “We are not afraid,” he said, and it showed. This was an afternoon in Houston when Sunderland's Brian Brobbey outplayed both of these players. Brobbey scored twice in the first half, giving the Netherlands the lead over Sweden, before Cody Gakpo added two and Crysencio Summerville completed a 5-1 victory. Perhaps most importantly, Brobbey has shown the striker's instincts that have long been considered the biggest weakness of the Dutch team, a team full of defensive strength and quality in the middle of the park but lacking an outstanding goalscorer. Before this match, Brobbey had only one goal in 13 appearances for the national team. Gakpo doesn't play like that for Liverpool. Summerville has just been relegated along with West Ham. But after leaving Brobbey on the bench in the 2-2 draw with Japan, Ronald Koeman may have found the formula for Dutch success at this World Cup. Sweden remains a great mystery in this tournament, with a squad full of technical midfielders and a luxurious attack, possessing two excellent strikers while many other countries pay the price for one. Spain will exchange a playmaker for Isak. Brazil and Germany will be formidable with a ruthless goalscorer. Imagine Portugal playing with Gyokeres instead of a famous heritage site. On paper, Sweden should have beaten Tunisia in their opening match, and there were moments of quality in the match in Houston after Potter switched from 5-3-2 to 4-3-3 during the break - an unnecessary decision in an air-conditioned stadium that had the crowd booing. From there, Gyokeres played brilliantly, connecting attacks with one-touch passes that found onrushing teammates. But defensively, this performance resembled a Sweden that lost to Kosovo in the qualifiers, and are now competing in Nations League C with Luxembourg and the Faroe Islands. Atalanta centre-back Isak Hien was bullied by Brobbey, and Hien was left unsupported as the Dutch exploited the Swedish wings and delivered low crosses that led to the first three goals. Instead, the Netherlands look like a real force at the World Cup. It also helped that this was almost a home game, as the orange jerseys outnumbered the yellow, perhaps 10 to 1. There are about 9,000 Dutch residents in Houston and the majority of them appeared to be here along with thousands of others who had crossed the ocean. NRG Stadium emerges from the concrete like an alien office building, with right angles and steel bars hanging from the exterior. It's very Houston, a city that doesn't like beauty or pretense. Big is good. Steel is strong. Inside, there are photos on the wall celebrating the glories of the Houston Texans, interspersed with images of other stars who once shined here: mainly country musicians, giant trucks and cattle. Koeman's decision to start Brobbey paid off after just six minutes. The Netherlands made football simple in the first attacks. Goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen played a long pass to Brobbey, who rounded Hien before diving and scoring from Gakpo's low pass. Brobbey's second goal was also a typical play from a striker, once again racing past Hien to touch the ball into the path of Denzel Dumfries. Sweden looked panicked in the middle of the field, where Jesper Karlstrom and Yasin Ayari kept passing hopeless passes instead of playing calmly as they did so well against Tunisia. The water break came just in time for Potter, who chatted to an assistant in the first minute before gathering the players for a meeting. The switch to a back four put Sweden ahead. They began to create chances, first for Ayari, who chose to receive the ball with his chest instead of his head, an action that later proved to be a mistake, as his body pushed the ball back. Gyokores tried an arc shot and Verbruggen saved as much as possible. A Gustaf Lagerbielke header was ruled out for offside, and Verbruggen saved well from Ayari before half-time. The game felt lively despite the 2-0 scoreline, but it was snuffed out two minutes into the second half when Dumfries once again escaped down the right and played a low cross into the box. Gakpo tried his best to score an empty goal, but put the ball into the net with his ankle from about two yards. Gakpo cut inside to score the Netherlands' fourth goal, proving that World Cup Gakpo is a completely different version of Liverpool's Gakpo. The arrival of Anthony Elanga brought new energy to Sweden and he scored on a counter-attack, eventually breaching Verbruggen's defence. Elanga also recalled a bit of history, performing a spin and poke that had the crowd cheering, 52 years after Johan Cruyff first performed the famous move against Sweden at the 1974 World Cup. But Summerville scored a fifth and in the end, the Netherlands were too strong. Perhaps Sweden's passive start was a tacit acknowledgment of that fact even before the match began. This was a match that was partly influenced by the two managers, by Koeman's decision to start Brobbey, and Potter's decision to switch to a back four. But clearly Koeman's decisive decision came before the match, while Potter had to make it during a water break that should have been non-existent.
Related Articles
Teams
Players