The Netherlands booked a comfortable victory in the Nations League match against Hungary on Saturday evening. Goals by Wout Weghorst, Cody Gakpo, Denzel Dumfries and Teun Koopmeiners made it 4-0.
Frenkie de Jong returned to the starting line-up of the Dutch national team after a year. National coach Ronald Koeman also opted for Weghorst and starting debutant Jan Paul van Hecke.
The Johan Cruijff ArenA was shocked in the opening phase by an unpleasant moment on the Hungarian bench. Staff member Ádám Szalai became unwell and the match was temporarily stopped. Shortly afterwards it was announced that his condition was stable and so the match was resumed.
Almost immediately after the restart referee Jesús Gil Manzano was called to the sidelines for a possible Oranje penalty. The penalty was awarded and Weghorst put the 1-0 on the scoreboard.
Due to the medical emergency, a lot of extra time was counted and in that extra time the Dutch doubled their lead. Malen was forced to the grass and this time Gakpo was allowed to take a penalty. The Liverpool attacker did not fail: 2-0.
Orange is fading fast
In the second half, Oranje had a few good chances to make it 3-0. Weghorst hit the crossbar and Jurriën Timber also came close to scoring. In the end, it was Dumfries who provided the liberating third goal. The right back rounded off a beautiful attack - via Gakpo and Malen.
Shortly before time it became 4-0. After a good move by substitute Jeremie Frimpong the ball came to Dumfries, who delivered a perfect cross to another substitute, Koopmeiners. The Juventus midfielder headed beautifully into the net.
A little later, Koopmeiners even came close to his second of the evening, but his shot bounced off the crossbar. The score remained 4-0 and with that, the Dutch team definitely qualified for the quarter finals of the Nations League.
