The Dutch were fried in Ecuador – Newspaper Kommersant No. 220 (7421) of 11/26/2022
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The Ecuador national team, having defeated the Qataris in the opening match of the World Cup, in the second round of the tournament in group A brought a lot of problems to a much more powerful opponent. The Dutch team, although they quickly took the lead, were forced to part ways with the Ecuadorians in the world, and a draw – 1: 1, given the details of the game, should have been considered a success. She brought the Dutch national team closer to the playoffs.
The Khalifa International stadium did not have to wait long for great football beauty – about as long as it usually takes to study the lineups of the teams, the placement of the players. A couple of minutes. And now a masterpiece is ripening. It may even seem that out of the blue, because the pace is taken slowly, everyone looks after each other.
But, of course, about a flat place – an exaggeration. Cody Gakpo, back in the match with the Senegalese, hinted that those who did not see him as an extraordinary player, special, capable of creating danger out of nothing, still believing that special Dutch players are, for example, Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong or all Memphis Depay, who had not yet gained such a form to go out at the base, was terribly mistaken. Now this feature has received another confirmation. Gakpo’s first goal in the tournament – against the Senegalese gate – turned out to be curious (you rarely see when a player so unexpectedly appears in front of the goalkeeper who is already preparing to calmly take the canopy), but there was little chic in it. That goal that Cody Gakpo scored against the Ecuadorians was full of glamor. It was impossible not to admire this blow after another seemingly monotonous attack – from the penalty line, from the left foot (despite the fact that the Dutchman is formally right-handed), a tight, sharp blow, as if the ball was being released from a giant sling – it was impossible not to admire. It was impossible not to want to savor it in repetition one more time or two.
How impossible it was, after savoring and returning to the game, not to think that the Netherlands team actually controls the situation tightly.
She still played without strain, without changing the chosen measured rhythm. But the thing is that at the same time, choosing too correctly the points on the field where you need to be, the vector of movement, both your own and your opponent, the Dutch kept the Ecuadorians in a tight grip – there was nowhere to turn around. And the national team of Ecuador, after all, also has the reputation of a team that, losing in the long run, loses all its thornyness.
The symbol of Ecuadorian hopelessness was a long, 30 meters dash from the center line to the front, tired of hoping that the ball would be delivered directly to the front line, Enner Valencia, the hero of the match with the Qataris. The forward decided to do everything himself – and, of course, despite his stubbornness, he was eaten with giblets by Nathan Ake, and then cursed at his partners: why didn’t they support him ?!
But in reality, this breakthrough was followed by an Ecuadorian transformation, perhaps caused, among other things, by the zeal of the leader, a spark he carved from stone.
In the middle of the first half, this team was no longer recognizable. She tirelessly tormented the Dutch, who seemed to be slightly bewildered by someone else’s impudence, bending deeper and deeper under the Ecuadorian attacks.
Once they were saved by goalkeeper Andris Noppert, who reacted to a difficult blow from Valencia from under the defender. And VAR saved before the break. Purvis Estupignan had no doubt that by tweaking his rebound shot after a corner kick to keep Noppert out of business, he equalized the score. But no, it turned out that Jackson Poroso was also standing near the goalkeeper, and although he did not touch the ball, such an offside position, strictly speaking, to absolutely “passive” to ignore, of course, did not pull.
What should have happened before the rest, however, happened immediately after it. The Ecuadorians saved the mood and, intercepting the ball in the center of the field, deployed an attack that completed Estupinyan. In a duel with him, Noppert survived, but let down the watchman of Valencia Ake, who missed his indomitable sponsor, who rushed to the rebound. No, in vain the Ecuadorians were denied the ability to catch up.
The Dutch national team leveled the game through suffering. Through the shock experienced when, in the course of the Ecuadorian onslaught, which did not want to subside, Gonzalo Plata fired at the crossbar. And having equalized, she practically secured the playoffs, despite the loss of two points, because in order to get there with a guarantee, you only need to avoid defeat in the final round. And in the final round, the Dutch play with the Qataris, who have already lost their chances to leave the group after losing to the Senegalese. The fate of the other ticket is not so obvious. The national teams of Ecuador and Senegal will fight for it in a face-to-face meeting. Ecuadorians, who have a point more, will have enough of a draw in it. But it is possible that we will have to play without Valencia, who was carried off the field on a stretcher at the end of the match with the Dutch.
Second round
Netherlands-Ecuador 1:1
Gakpo, 6 – Valencia, 49
November 25. Doha, Khalifa International Stadium. 44,833 viewers.
Match statistics
Netherlands Ecuador
Shots on goal 2 15
shots on target 1 4
Corners 2 5
Offsides 1 4
fouls 15 12
Warnings 0 1
Percentage of possession 55 45
Group A table
V N P M O
1–2. Netherlands 1 1 0 3:1 4
1–2. Ecuador 1 1 0 3:1 4
3. Senegal 1 0 1 3:3 3
4. Qatar 0 0 2 1:5 0
November 29 in the third, final round meet: Ecuador-Senegal, the Netherlands-Qatar.
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