Cody Gakpo has already scored three times at this European Championship. Each time he moved to the center through the left wing.
Photo: imago/Matthias Koch
When Cody Gakpo starts to dribble on the left on Wednesday evening, the Dutch winger will see a familiar face. The Dutch top scorer is most likely to face England’s Kyle Walker. The two know each other well. Their clubs – Gakpo plays for Liverpool FC, Walker for Manchester City – have fought great battles for the English football championship in recent years. Walker would hardly be surprised when his opponent moves in from the left wing as he looks for the finish. It would also be a sign of bad scouting on the part of the English. After all, the 25-year-old Dutchman scored all three of his goals at the 2024 European Championship this way.
The duel between Walker and Gakpo will be one of many encounters between football professionals who have played against and with each other for a long time. When the Netherlands and England meet in Dortmund this Wednesday evening, there will be some reunions, such as Holland defender Nathan Aké and England attack gem Phil Foden. Both are teammates of Kyle Walker at Manchester City. England centre-back John Stones has completed a quartet of Premier League champions. Even Harry Kane meets old friends, although he has been scoring goals for FC Bayern Munich since 2023. For many years, the Englishman had previously fought duels in the jersey of Tottenham Hotspurs with the Dutchman Virgil van Dijk, head of defense at Liverpool FC.
If you look at the teams it is clear how close the two national teams are. 32 out of 52 European Championship drivers from both teams played on the island last season. There are also seven other Dutchmen and two Englishmen who used to play for English clubs or their youth teams. And even people who were not really involved in it, are already involved in this extremely close duel. England’s Luke Shaw, who makes his living at Manchester United, reported that his Dutch club coach Erik ten Hag wrote to him before the semi-final. “He sent me a funny little message about the game,” Shaw said at the Three Lions’ training camp in Blankenhain, Thuringia. The left-back is expecting an extremely difficult semi-final against the Dutch: “I don’t see any weaknesses in them. They are a very good team and have a great coach.”
Of course he was also working on the island. From 2014 to 2017, Bond’s coach, Roenald Koeman, coached first Southampton FC and then Everton FC. The 61-year-old can do something at this European Championship that only Berti Vogts has achieved so far: win the European Championship as a player and as a coach. As a defensive chief, Koeman was one of the Dutch European champions in 1988. To date, it is the only international title the Netherlands have won. If Koeman has his way, the second should be added this year: “We can be proud that we reached the semi-finals. No one expected that. But the mission is not over yet.”
At least there shouldn’t be many surprises in his line-up for the semi-finals; Koeman found his starting eleven after a mixed group stage. The only exciting question before the duel with the English is in the storm. In addition to the Gakpo suite, will Oranje start again with Memphis Depay (formerly at Manchester United) at the top and Donyell Malen (on the right wing at Arsenal London)? Or will the Netherlands immediately start with the noble joker Wout Weghorst, who scored the winning goal against Poland in the first round match as a substitute and also caused danger in the second half of the quarter-final against Turkey. You guessed it: before his final season at TSG Hoffenheim, the 1.97 meter tall header specialist also played in the Premier League: for Burnley and Manchester United. On Tuesday, coach Bond Koeman did not want to let anyone see his hand: “Depay can do it, Weghorst can do it, the combination can do it.”
Whatever change the Dutch coach chooses, it is unlikely to completely surprise the English. The two teams know each other well for that. In any case, almost all tactical arguments at this European Championship have now been exchanged. The English have one of the best collections of individual players, but they use it mainly for pomadic security football. The Dutch have improved significantly in terms of play after a mixed preliminary round. The “Elftal” showed qualities to come back also against Poland and Turkey after being 1-0 down. As a possible penalty, however, the English are considered extremely strong after their impressive performance against Switzerland, despite any historical weakness in penalties.
So it’s no surprise that Cody Gakpo is also expecting a close game where his team will need a top performance to progress: “We hope everything comes together and we play our best game. ” Narrow Walker.
» We can be proud that we reached the semi-finals. But the mission is not over yet.”
Ronald Koeman
Dutch football coach
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