Back at football’s showpiece for the first time in eight years, the Netherlands needed 85 minutes to announce their arrival.
The Dutch seemed to be drifting to a goalless draw against Senegal in their Group A opener at Al Thumama Stadium on Monday night. Then out of nowhere, Cody Gakpo’s brilliant bit of innovation set up the win; Davy Klaassen’s 99th-minute doubler sealed it.
There were only five minutes remaining when Gakpo forward met Frenkie de Jong’s delicious curling cross, and used the back of his head to flick the ball into the Senegal net.
Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy would not want to watch it back; in a serious error of judgment, he had strayed too far from his line. Gakpo beat him to it. Then Klassen followed up Memphis Depay’s parried shot late, late on and the Netherlands beat Senegal.
The hammer blow was late but it saw off the African champions, marking the Europeans’ first World Cup victory since defeating Brazil in the third-place play-off in 2014. That was more than 3,000 days ago.
Until then, Louis van Gaal’s side had lacked spark. Early on, Gakpo elected to pass when he really should have shot, then De Jong dallied when staring down Mendy.
Clearly the Dutch were missing Depay. The Barcelona forward, forced on to the bench because of a niggling hamstring injury, was directly involved in more goals than any other player in European qualification, scoring 12 and assisting six in 10 matches. The Netherlands notched 33 times en route to Qatar. Depay, though, was introduced midway through the second half.
For Senegal, Ismaila Sarr seemed imbued with the belief he needed to carry his team’s main threat in the absence of the injured Sadio Mane. Instead, the Watford winger was giving Virgil van Dijk a horrid time, at one point leaving the Liverpool defender for dead with a beautiful feint.
Senegal were by then enjoying themselves, most probably taking additional impetus from their spirited fans. One section, stationed right behind Sarr in the first half, banged their drums throughout. Reverberating around the tournament’s only completely circular venue, it caused quite the din.
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HOW THE NETHERLANDS QUALIFIED FOR WORLD CUP 2022: (Group G): March 24, 2021. Turkey 4 (Yilmaz (15', pen 34', 81'), Calhanoglu 46') Netherlands 2 (Klaassen 75', De Jong 76'): A disastrous start to the campaign for the Dutch as a Burak Yilmaz hat-trick condemned Frank de Boer's team to defeat, with Memphis Depay also missing a penalty. De Boer said: “Very disappointing result, and also the way that result came about. Our tempo should have been higher, especially before the break.” AFP -
![March 27, 2021. Netherlands 2 (Berghuis 32', L de Jong 69') Latvia 0. A much-needed pick-me-up for the Dutch after the Turkey defeat with Frank de Boer's side creating a remarkable 37 chances - although only finding the net twice - to kick-start their campaign. “I'm very happy with it and proud,” said Steven Berghuis, who scored his first international goal. “It's what you work hard for. I want to be important for Oranje. It's unbelievable it was [only] 1-0 after the first half.” Getty](https://www.thenationalnews.com/resizer/v2/7ESU4GS5JZFITNMPY75JFAIXDE.jpg?smart=true&auth=058b2626817638f7fc40e6bf8abfaac24a68bb0f62989ca9a7914a74d2d96985&width=400&height=225)
March 27, 2021. Netherlands 2 (Berghuis 32', L de Jong 69') Latvia 0. A much-needed pick-me-up for the Dutch after the Turkey defeat with Frank de Boer's side creating a remarkable 37 chances - although only finding the net twice - to kick-start their campaign. “I'm very happy with it and proud,” said Steven Berghuis, who scored his first international goal. “It's what you work hard for. I want to be important for Oranje. It's unbelievable it was [only] 1-0 after the first half.” Getty -
March 30, 2021. Gibraltar 0 Netherlands 7 (Berghuis 41', L de Jong 55', Depay 61', 88', Wijnaldum 62', Malen 64', Van de Beek 85'): Mission achieved for manager Frank de Boer who had said before the game that he wanted to win by at least five goals, although it took more than 40 minutes for the floodgates to open. De Boer said: “The first 20 minutes were difficult. After that we started creating chances, but we couldn’t convert them and ... it started to get frustrating. But we knew that eventually things would fall into place.” Getty -
September 1, 2021. Norway 1 (Haaland 20') Netherlands (Klaassen 37'): Davy Klaassen scored for the Dutch after Erling Haaland had put Norway into an early lead to earn a point for returning manager Louis van Gaal, who had replaced Frank de Boer who left the role after a disappointing Euro 2020. Van Gaal said: “I told the players that we had been careless. But that’s also because of the way Norway played. We can think that this Dutch national team is world-class, but it is not." AFP -
September 4, 2021. Netherlands 4 (Depay pen 38', 62', Wijnaldum 70', Gakpo 76') Montenegro 0. Memphis Depay reached 30 goals for his country with a double as manager Louis van Gaal earned the first win of his third reign in charge. Van Gaal said: "We started very badly – in the first 15 minutes, we seemed to have stress. But after 15-to-20 minutes we picked ourselves up ... I think that is very good in itself." EPA -
September 7, 2021. Netherlands 6 (Klaassen 1', Depay 16', 38' pen 54', Til 80', Malen 90') Turkey 1 (Under 90+2'): Sweet revenge for the Dutch after their defeat back in March. Memphis Depay grabbed a hat-trick to send Van Gaal's team top of the group. “I enjoy playing," Depay said. "I’m having a great time and I’m in great shape. I’m 27. I had a serious injury, which was now a while back, but I don’t forget it easily. I worked hard, but now I’m back." EPA -
October 8, 2021. Latvia 0 Netherlands 1 (Klaassen 19'): Davy Klaassen grabbed the only goal of the game to make it three victories on the spin for manager Louis van Gaal with the Dutch sitting top of the group by two points. "We should have been better. But three points are very important for qualification,” captain Virgil van Dijk said. AP -
October 11, 2021. Netherlands 6 (Van Dijk 9', Depay 21', pen 45+3'), Dumfries 48', Danjuma 75', Malen 86') Gibraltar 0: Memphis Depay was back in the goals with a double - while also missing a penalty - as the Dutch coasted to an easy victory to maintain their two-point lead at the top over Norway. Van Gaal said: "Aside from the six goals we created an incredible amount of chances and hardly gave any away. I complimented the team on the way they executed the plan, because it was nice to watch." AFP -
November 13, 2021. Montenegro 2 (Vukotic 82', Vujnovic 86') Netherlands 2 (Depay pen 25', 54'): Louis van Gaal's side had looked set to secure progress to Qatar with a game to spare until two goals in the final 10 minutes earned Montenegro a point. Van Gaal said: “We have not performed well, at a stage when we have had it in our hands. I cannot explain it ... we were 2-0 up, and all we had to do was play the ball around. We lost the ball at times when we shouldn't have.” Reuters -
November 16, 2021. Netherlands 2 (Bergwijn 84', Depay 90+1') Norway 0: Two late goals from Steven Bergwijn and Memphis Depay sealed the Dutch a place in Qatar after a drab game with neither team prepared to take too many attacking risks. "It's actually been a fantastic week because we got to know each other in lows, but also in highs," said Van Gaal. "I really think they executed the plan brilliantly today." EPA
![March 27, 2021. Netherlands 2 (Berghuis 32', L de Jong 69') Latvia 0. A much-needed pick-me-up for the Dutch after the Turkey defeat with Frank de Boer's side creating a remarkable 37 chances - although only finding the net twice - to kick-start their campaign. “I'm very happy with it and proud,” said Steven Berghuis, who scored his first international goal. “It's what you work hard for. I want to be important for Oranje. It's unbelievable it was [only] 1-0 after the first half.” Getty](https://www.thenationalnews.com/resizer/v2/7ESU4GS5JZFITNMPY75JFAIXDE.jpg?smart=true&auth=058b2626817638f7fc40e6bf8abfaac24a68bb0f62989ca9a7914a74d2d96985&width=800&height=450)
Just after half-time, Van Dijk nearly silenced them. He connected with a corner but sent his header way over. Unbelievably, given his pedigree, Monday constituted the defender’s debut at a major international tournament.
Behind him, he and teammates eventually had goalkeeper Andries Noppert to thank for the three points. Having not had much to do on his international debut, he made three telling saves: first from Boulaye Dia, then from Idrissa Gueye’s rasping shot and, finally, using all of his 6ft 8in frame and then some to parry Pape Gueye’s fizzing effort. Thankfully for Van Gaal and Co, Noppert measures up as the World Cup’s tallest player.
In the end, the Netherlands had the measure of Senegal. Gakpo stole in and substitute Klaassen sealed it. Ultimately, belatedly, their World Cup return began with a bang.
