A lot is happening around Cody Gakpo | De Boer is certain: 'Gakpo will play'

Due to sad family circumstances, there is a lot going on around Cody Gakpo. The former PSV player shared sad family news along with his partner. Because of the announcement on social media, a lot automatically falls on the Gakpo family. People are also making all kinds of comparisons to 2008.

Despite the sad news that his little son was stillborn, the Eindhoven native decided to stay with the Netherlands squad. Even so, almost everyone also assumes that Gakpo will be fresh and fit enough to play for the Dutch national team on Monday night, Dutch time. Analyst Ronald de Boer therefore expects that Gakpo will simply be in the starting lineup on Monday during the World Cup match for Oranje against Morocco.

On RTL Boulevard, De Boer visibly looked moved by the statement from Gakpo and his girlfriend Noa van der Bij. "I get a bit of goosebumps from it. Of course this is incredibly sad", said the former international. "This kind of thing happens sometimes at a major tournament. It will do something to the family, but also to the Oranje squad, I can assure you. The group will of course really stand by him. A group like that can also bring everyone closer together."

De Boer expects that the squad will be extra motivated to play for Gakpo. "Hopefully they get support for that and have the feeling: we’re going to do it for Cody," he continues with his vision, which is also widely shared by De Telegraaf and AD Sportwereld.

De Boer also thinks that Gakpo himself will find the strength to take action. "I think Cody is certainly going to play, I’m convinced of that. He’s a very religious boy. That’s why he will think: this is God’s will, if you will. He genuinely believes that he has something to show at the World Cup and that God is standing by him. I expect you know you can never be 100% sure whether Gakpo is going to play."