Cody Gakpo has already scored three times at this European Championship. Each time he moved to the center via the left wing.
Photo: imago/Matthias Koch
When Cody Gakpo starts dribbling on the left on Wednesday evening, the Dutch winger will see a familiar face. The Netherlands’ top scorer will most likely face England’s Kyle Walker. Both know each other well. Their clubs – Gakpo plays for Liverpool FC, Walker for Manchester City – have fought thrilling duels for the English football championship in recent years. Walker should hardly be surprised when his opponent moves in from the left wing and looks for the finish. It would also be a sign of poor scouting on the English side. After all, the 25-year-old Dutchman scored all three of his tournament goals at the 2024 European Championship in this way.
The duel between Walker and Gakpo will be just one of many encounters between football professionals who have been playing against and with each other for a long time. When the Netherlands and England meet in Dortmund this Wednesday evening, there will be a number of reunions, such as that of Holland defender Nathan Aké and England attacking gem Phil Foden. Both are teammates of Kyle Walker at Manchester City. The Premier League champions’ quartet is completed by England’s central defender John Stones. Even Harry Kane meets old friends, even though he has been scoring goals for FC Bayern Munich since 2023. For many years, the Englishman had previously fought duels in the Tottenham Hotspurs jersey with the Dutchman Virgil van Dijk, head of defense at Liverpool FC.
A look at the squads makes it clear how closely connected the two national teams are. A total of 32 of the 52 European Championship drivers from both teams played on the island last season. There are also seven other Dutch and two Englishmen who used to play for English clubs or their youth teams. And even people who were actually uninvolved have already joined in on this particularly 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 cheeky little message about the game,” said Shaw at the Three Lions training camp in Blankenhain, Thuringia. The left-back expects 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 also worked on the island. From 2014 to 2017, Bond coach Roenald Koeman first coached 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 a European Championship as a player and coach. As defense chief, Koeman was one of the Dutch European champions in 1988. To date, it is the only international title that the Netherlands has won. If Koeman has his way, the second one should be added this year: “We can be proud that we reached the semi-finals. Nobody expected that. But the mission isn’t over yet.”
At least there should be few surprises in his line-up for the semi-finals; Koeman has found his starting eleven after a mixed group phase. The only exciting question before the duel with the English is in the storm. In addition to Gakpo, will the Oranje start again with only Memphis Depay (formerly at Manchester United) at the top and Donyell Malen (formerly at Arsenal London) on the right wing? Or do the Netherlands start straight away with noble joker Wout Weghorst, who scored the winning goal against Poland in the first round game as a substitute and also caused danger in the second half of the quarter-final against Turkey. You guessed it: before his last season at TSG Hoffenheim, the 1.97 meter tall heading specialist also played in the Premier League: for Burnley and Manchester United. On Tuesday, Bonds coach Koeman didn’t want to let anyone see his hand: “Depay can do it, Weghorst can do it, the combination can do it.”
No matter which variant the Dutch coach chooses, he is unlikely to take the English completely by surprise. Both teams know each other too 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 use it primarily for pomadic security football. The Dutch have improved significantly in terms of play after a mixed preliminary round. The »Elftal« also demonstrated comeback qualities against Poland and Turkey after being 1-0 down. In a possible penalty shootout, however, the English are considered to be particularly strong after their impressive performance against Switzerland, despite any historical weakness in penalties.
So it’s not surprising that Cody Gakpo also expects a close game in which his team will need a top performance to advance: “Hopefully everything comes together and we play our best game.” Maybe he brought a surprise with him after all to get past opponent Kyle Walker.
»We can be proud that we reached the semi-finals. But the mission isn’t over yet.”
Roenald Koeman
Coach of Dutch footballers