When they played Romania in the round of 16 of EURO 2024, the Netherlands’ attack was very strong. Gakpo and Malen’s skill helped the “Orange Storm” make it to the playoffs.
Romania wins the “orange tornado” and moves on to the quarterfinals.
The Netherlands proved that their loss to Austria in the final game of the group stage was just a fluke when they played Romania in the round of 16. Ronald Koeman’s army had full control of the game and kept putting pressure on Romania’s goal the whole time.
Cody Gakpo dribbled past a Romanian defender in the 20th minute and then hit Nita with a powerful long shot that went into the near corner. The Liverpool forward scored three goals at EURO this year, which put him at the top of the scoring charts.
The Netherlands made a lot more chances after that. But there were no more goals in the first half. The Netherlands took the lead after the break to slow down the game, ready to attack again when the chance came up.
The Netherlands scored their second goal, though, not until the 83rd minute, when Romania made a mistake in defence. After Gakpo made the save, Malen, a replacement striker, quickly scored to make it 2-0 for the Netherlands.
That wasn’t all, though. In the 90+3 minute, Malen scored his second goal after going on a solo run and finishing well after a quick Dutch counterattack. The Dutch national team beat Romania 3-0 to make it to the quarterfinals and proved once again that they will bring back the “Orange Storm” at EURO 2024.