The Netherlands are looking to go far at the European Championships and finally celebrate a title again. But that also requires big players. One person who could fulfill this characteristic is Cody Gakpo.
Cody Gakpo makes a big impact at the European Championships.
IMAGO/Sven Simon
Liverpool FC put 42 million euros on the table in 2023 to get Gakpo away from PSV Eindhoven. A proud sum, but in today’s world – compared to the transfers that often come from the Premier League – it is still quite modest.
At least when you consider that Gakpo was 23 years old at the time and had just grabbed attention with three goals at the World Cup in Qatar.
So he moved from his hometown of Eindhoven, where the 1.93 meter tall winger was born, to England to join Jürgen Klopp. Gakpo was then given the task of being an equal replacement after the Mané/Salah/Firmino era.
The search for the right location
But that was only partially successful in his first-half run, he still added seven goals and three assists in the Premier League, but the Reds ultimately finished a disappointing fifth.
And Gakpo wasn’t entirely convincing last season either. Klopp put him on the bench in more than half of the Premier League games and then often played the Dutchman as a center forward. In reality, eight goals and five assists are not enough for an attacker who promises high quality.
Gakpo hasn’t really found his role with the Reds – and the national team also had a bit of a problem before the European Championship: the Netherlands celebrated four wins in the five games before the European Championship and scored a total of 19 goals – but Gakpo didn’t score but once the Gibraltar football margin.
Koeman: “I hope the others will reach their level”
A few weeks later, band coach Ronald Koeman stood in front of the press and praised the now 25-year-old: “I hope the others get to his level,” Koeman said. At the European Championships, Gakpo has once again flourished as a left winger, having already scored three goals and set up one – making him, along with Georgia’s Georges Mikautadze and Spain’s Fabian, the top scorer at the Championships of Europe and you are the bookies’ favorite for the top scorer title.
The way the goals were scored, for example against Romania or Austria, brings back memories in the Netherlands of the time of Arjen Robben, who took the Oranje to the World Cup final in South Africa in 2010. Moving with speed from the edge of the area Penalties into the middle and finishing coolly, that was Robben’s trademark. What he perfectly overcame coming from the right, Gakpo is now celebrating from the other side at this European Championship.
Gakpo: “Here to create our own memories”
In doing so, the Reds striker is hoping for a second European Championship victory after 1988. When Robben and his teammates slipped past the World Cup victory in 2010, Gakpo was eleven years old. “I have a lot of memories of that,” said the striker, who trained at PSV Eindhoven. He still has images in his head from the 2008 and 2012 European Championships too, but the Dutch were disappointed by those events. “We are now here to create our own memories,” he announced ahead of Saturday’s quarter-final against Turkey (9 pm).
There are still some pieces of the puzzle missing, but it will be okay.
Big tournaments need big players – and it looks like Gakpo’s “tournament player” is on the way there. Virgil van Dijk, who captains the attacker for both the Reds and the Elftal, also sees it this way: “I see every day the amount of work he puts in. “Let the criticism be distracting,” said the defense chief after the game in Romania.
The 3-0 was the best and most dominant performance of the Dutch team so far at this European Championship and a satisfactory response to the 2-3 defeat against Austria in the group stage. “We’re getting better,” Gakpo said. “There are still some pieces of the puzzle missing, but it’s going to be okay.” One of the most important pieces of the puzzle is Gakpo in top form anyway.