No-show behavior vs no no-show behavior: “Let him have played his last international match”

The Netherlands national team has recorded an important victory at the World Cup. In Houston, Orange were too strong for Sweden on Saturday evening with a 5-1 scoreline. Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo combined for four goals and were the big standouts of Ronald Koeman's squad. Thanks to the comfortable win, a place in the knockout stage is coming ever closer.

Ahead of the match, Koeman provided a surprise by giving Brobbey a spot in the starting lineup. The Sunderland striker was preferred over Crysencio Summerville, who, according to the head coach, was not quite fully fit. Frenkie de Jong also appeared in the starting lineup, despite a mild concussion he had earlier this week after a training incident with Quinten Timber.

The choice for Brobbey quickly proved to be a bullseye. After barely five minutes, Oranje took the first step toward victory. Cody Gakpo found his teammate with a sharp cross, who cleverly broke free of his marker and fired home the opening goal from close range.

Netherlands subsequently remained the dominant side. Sweden had hardly any grip on the energetic play of Oranje, which kept causing danger through the emerging Denzel Dumfries. After seventeen minutes, that brought success again. Dumfries reached Brobbey with a low cross, and the striker worked the ball subtly behind goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt: 2-0.

With a comfortable lead, Orange seemed on course for a worry-free evening, but as the first half progressed Sweden grew into the match. In particular, Viktor Gyökeres caused problems for the Dutch defense and tested Bart Verbruggen several times.

Yasin Ayari was also close to scoring, but the Dutch goalkeeper kept his team afloat with a few impressive saves. Just before halftime, Sweden seemed to respond after all through Gustaf Lagerbielke, but his header was ruled out for offside.

Koeman decided to make changes after the break and brought Summerville on for Donyell Malen. That substitution had an almost immediate impact. Summerville launched an attack, after which Dumfries again delivered a dangerous cross. Brobbey just missed the ball by a hair, but Gakpo was ready to slide in the 3-0 from close range.

It didn’t stop there. Oranje maintained control and made optimal use of the spaces that opened up. After solid preparatory work by Summerville, Gakpo was given the chance to go for it. The forward didn’t hesitate and fired the ball from distance convincingly into the short corner for his second goal of the evening.

Sweden did one more thing through substitute Anthony Elanga. The quick attacker escaped the attention of the Dutch defense and made it 4-1, but there was no comeback.

In the closing stages, the Netherlands remained the most dangerous team. While Sweden went in search of a second goal, Orange struck once more. Summerville capped his strong substitute appearance by scoring the fifth Dutch goal himself. With a fine solo move, he dribbled towards the penalty area, after which he calmly finished.

The forward was ultimately unable to finish the match after, in an unfortunate collision, he took a knee to the head. Even after the final whistle, he was still treated.

With the convincing victory, the Netherlands has made excellent progress in Group F. Koeman’s team is currently at the top for the time being and has the knockout phase within reach. Moreover, Oranje made history: for the fifteenth World Cup match in a row, the Netherlands remained unbeaten. That established a record that had previously been shared with Brazil.

Koeman’s decision to start with Brobbey in the starting lineup therefore paid off extremely well. Sunderland’s striker was eager, worked incredibly hard, and showed that he has the right attitude. Through his goals, he has instantly won over the favor of the entire Netherlands. In contrast to Memphis Depay, who now seems to have been relegated to third-choice striker. Orange’s top scorer has been struggling with his fitness for months and delivered a poor performance in the first World Cup match against Japan by losing nearly every ball.

Even though Memphis recorded an assist against Sweden at Summerville, it’s to be hoped that the forward has played his final international for Oranje. With Brobbey, Malen and Wout Weghorst as a breakthrough option, Koeman has plenty of choices up front.