The Netherlands were held to a 1-1 draw on Monday afternoon by a spirited team from Ecuador who arguably deserved more than a point.
Cody Gakpo had to wait 84 tense minutes before scoring the opener in the Netherlands’ first game against Senegal. Barely five minutes had elapsed when the PSV star put the Dutchman ahead at the Khalifa International Stadium.
Whether intentional or not, the Dutch visibly took their foot off the accelerator after the lead. Louis van Gaal’s side struggled to find the necessary power from the start and only managed one more attempt in the remainder of the game.
Ecuador did their part to muzzle the Dutch and proved that their easy opening win over Qatar wasn’t just down to quality (or lack thereof). As then, Enner Valencia found the net again before a knee injury sustained against Qatar forced him off.
Gakpo picked up the ball from Davy Klaassen and played it to his supposedly weaker left foot, only to slide it past Hernan Galindez into the goal. It was the first goal to break through Ecuador’s defense since March.
Ecuador were a little surprised by the speed of the Dutch opener and needed the first 20 minutes to regain their bearings. After the radar was recalibrated, it focused on the left flank. Ecuador stormed into the Dutch penalty area with rapid changes of position and exploiting human error in the aggressive man marking of the Dutch centre-backs.
As in qualifying for the tournament – with the most goals from open play of any South American side – Ecuador also proved to be a dangerous side on dead-ball. Just before half-time, Pervis Estupinan pulled away after deflecting Angelo Preciado’s shot over Andries Noppert from a corner kick.
However, Estupinan’s celebration was cut short by the assistant referee, who saw Jackson Porozo flagged for offside. The centre-back found himself between the ball and Noppert, who had already dived the wrong way, but a quick VAR check waved off Ecuador’s outraged objections.
When Enner Valencia scored a deserved equalizer for Ecuador four minutes after the break, there was no cause for excitement.
Van Gaal bemoaned his side’s “sloppy” possession in the opening game and was certainly not enthusiastic about Jurrien Timber’s possession in midfield. The Ajax centre-back ran out of defense but was cornered by Moises Caicedo, who passed the ball on to Estupinan in the space Timber had vacated. Noppert was able to parry the full-back’s shot, but Valencia was there on the rebound and scored their third goal of the tournament.
Virgil van Dijk’s shin prevented Valencia from extending their lead as the tournament’s top scorer. The ball rebounded to Gonzalo Plata, who failed on the crossbar.
TW: Andries Noppert – Grade: 6/10 – Was a little lucky that he was spared the offside flag, but was sovereign in the air – as to be expected given his height of 2.03 meters.
IV: Jurrien Timber – Grade: 5/10 – Was much more comfortable than Matthijs de Ligt in this hybrid role as a centre-back, but was caught having possession and being out of position at the same time.
IV: Virgil van Dijk – Grade: 7/10 – When he was forced into some dramatic defensive moves in his own penalty area, Van Dijk’s coolness proved crucial.
IV: Nathan Ake – Grade: 6/10 – He confidently carried the ball across the field and was dogged in his duels.
RAV: Denzel Dumfries – Grade: 4/10 – Dumfries crept very high along the touchline and looked uncomfortable against the cunning Enner Valencia.
CM: Teun Koopmeiners – Grade: 6/10 – Can be pushed far out and leaves the central gap to De Jong, which he has to deal with alone.
CM: Frenkie de Jong – Grade: 7/10 – Enjoyed being confined to a small space and occasionally weaved effortlessly into the front of the pack.
LAV: Daley Blind – Grade: 5/10 – Kept his game simple and clear.
ZOM: Davy Klaassen – Grade: 6/10 – Pushed forward and at times was ahead of the Dutch strikers.
ST: Cody Gakpo – Grade: 6/10 – Had the best period of the game but got weaker and weaker after that.
ST: Steven Bergwijn – Grade: 4/10 – Was sacrificed at half-time to allow Depay’s arrival. Not a big loss after an anonymous introduction.
Memphis Depay (46th for Bergwijn) – Grade: 4/10 – Apparently not quite fit yet.
Steven Berghuis (69th for Klaassen) – Grade: 5/10
Marten de Roon (80th for Koopmeiners) – No grade
Wout Weghorst (80th for Gakpo) – No grade
Coach: Louis van Gaal – Grade: 4/10 – He watched his team chasing a lead with unusual passiveness. The introduction of a reasonably fit Depay at half-time did not prove to be his trump card.
This article was originally published on 90min.de as 1-1 draw against Ecuador: the scores of the Netherlands stars.
