It was a goal reminiscent of what they used to say about Arjen Robben in his Bayern Munich and Netherlands pomp.
You knew exactly what Robben was going to do. Stopping it, however, was a very different challenge altogether.
The former PSV, Real Madrid and Chelsea winger made a career out of his famous party trick; cutting inside onto his trusty left foot and thumping shots into the back of the net.
And while he might be lining up on the opposite flank, cutting in onto his right rather than his left, there were shades of a prime-time Robben about the way Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo opened the scoring during the Netherlands’ 3-0 victory over Romania in the round-of-16 at Euro 2024.
Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo fires Netherlands into quarter-finals
Driving towards the penalty area, Gakpo left Romania’s right-back choking on his dust before fizzing a fierce strike in at the near post.
Liverpool’s £37 million man is now the joint-top scorer in the competition, hitting the target against Romania as well as Poland and Austria. Add in his numbers from the Qatar World Cup, and Gakpo has six goals in his last nine tournament appearances.
And while the ex-PSV Eindhoven frontman might lack the star power of a Kylian Mbappe or the headline-grabbing qualities of Jude Bellingham, there is a growing feeling back home in the Netherlands that Gakpo is rapidly becoming something of a talismanic presence in Oranje.
“I think Gakpo is really the star of this team,” Pierre van Hooijdonk, once of Celtic and Nottingham Forest, tells NOS. “He was already in Qatar and now again.
“In all facets of being a professional, he is really an example to everyone. The way he has developed very steadily at PSV, then made a transfer to Liverpool. At the Dutch national team, he is still quite modest but he is our star.”
The challenge facing Arne Slot – a man who knows Gakpo well from his time in the Feyenoord dugout – is to get the Dutchman performing for Liverpool like he does for his country.
With 16 goals and six assists, Gakpo enjoyed a respectable first full season at Anfield. But it’s in the orange shirt of the Netherlands where his best performances seem to arrive.
Better for club than country
Rafael van der Vaart, a member of the Dutch side who finished as World Cup runners-up in South Africa 14 years ago, feels that ‘very few players in the world’ can rival Gakpo when it comes to striking fear into the heart of opposition defenders.
“I see that in him,” Van der Vaart says, albeit while insisting that Gakpo’s decision making still needs some work.
“The only point of criticism; look left and right every now and then.”
There was no suggestion of selfishness in the build up to the Netherlands’ second goal on Tuesday afternoon, however. Forcing the previously-imperious Radu Dragusin into a rare mistake, Gakpo stole the ball on the byline and set up Donyell Malen’s first of the second-half.
“Really great. He is so important, with the first goal and with the liberating second,” Ajax icon Ronald de Boer wrote in his Voetbal Primeur collumn while handing Liverpool’s number 18 a match rating of 9/10.
“Gakpo is always extremely dangerous. Of course, it is a team effort. But he almost single-handedly ensures that the Netherlands continues (in the Euros).
“He makes the difference again. When you are so important, you deserve such a high score. One of the best players of the tournament? Not yet. One swallow does not make a summer.
“If he continues like this, he will end up in the top ten or the top five.”
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