World News Netherlands move up the gears to reach Euro last eight Blog

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With a convincing 3-0 win against Romania, the Netherlands reached the European Championship quarter-finals for the first time in 16 years.

Cody Gakpo broke the deadlock in the 20th minute and Donyell Malen scored two late goals to send the Netherlands into their first quarter-final of the tournament since 2008.

The Dutch had missed a number of opportunities to extend their lead earlier, and captain Virgil van Dijk also hit the woodwork, but it was still a far better performance than their disappointing group stage performance, which ended in a 3-2 defeat to Austria.

The Netherlands may have an immediate chance for revenge, as there could be a quick rematch in Berlin on Saturday if Austria beat Turkey in their final round of 16 match, which takes place later on Tuesday.

It was Gakpo’s third goal of the tournament, making him the top scorer along with Germany’s Jamal Musiala, Georges Mikautadze from Georgia and Ivan Schranz from Slovakia.

Romania had more possession until Gakpo’s goal, but never really tested Dutch goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. Instead, the first goal came when Xavi Simons burst forward and found Gakpo on the left. The Liverpool striker cut past the blue-haired Andrei Rațiu and fired into the bottom corner.

Gakpo had a goal disallowed for offside in the second half, but he provided the assist with seven minutes remaining when, under pressure from Radu Drăgușin, he managed to keep the ball in play and pushed it back from the byline for Malen to slot home.

And the Dutch crowned their dominant performance in injury time when Simons set Malen free on a storming run from the halfway line, firing the ball past Florin Niță and into the net.

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