Oranje finish their EURO 2024 qualification campaign with a 0-6 win against Gibraltar
Oranje finished their Euro 2024 qualification campaign on Tuesday with an easy 0-6 victory against Gibraltar. Calvin Stengs notched a hat trick for the national side, with Cody Gakpo, Mats Wieffer, and Teun Koopmeiners getting the other goals.
Ronald Koeman made six changes to the side that secured qualification against the Republic of Ireland on Saturday. Jordan Teze, Mats Wieffer, Teun Koopmeiners, Joey Veerman, Calvin Stengs, and Donyell Malen replaced Denzel Dumfries, Daley Blind, Jerdy Schouten, Xavi Simons, Tijjani Reijnders and Cody Gakpo. Gibraltar lost 14-0 to France on Saturday in a historic match. The first match between these two sides in March finished 3-0 to the Netherlands.
The first goal came after nine minutes. Joey Veerman’s pass was blocked before he recovered the ball and played it to Calvin Stengs, who swept it home to score his first goal for the national side.
Mats Wieffer should have made it 2-0 after 20 minutes when a cross from Donyell Malen found the midfielder completely unmarked in the box, but his header went wide. However, the Feyenoorder made no mistake two minutes later when he, too, got his first goal for Oranje after heading the ball home from a corner taken by Veerman.
Koeman’s side got their third in the 38th minute. Quilindschy Hartman continued the run of Feyenoord players being involved in every goal as he set up Teun Koopmeiners from close range with a great low cross.
Stengs got his second goal, and the Netherlands fourth after 49 minutes played. A simple one-two with Malen put the Feyenoord winger into the box before he curled it home.
It got better for the 24-year-old after an hour played when he got his third goal of the match. Gibraltar defender Joseph Chipolina went down on the edge of the area with an injury, which opened up the space for Stengs to roll the ball home for his third of the match.
The sixth and final goal was scored in the 81st minute. Substitute Cody Gakpo crossed the ball from the left toward Thijs Dallinga, who was brought on for his first appearance for the national side. Dallinga tried to head it on but missed it, which resulted in the goal being awarded to Gakpo as his cross went straight into the far corner.
Oranje finished second in group B of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. They finished five points ahead of third place Greece and four behind the group winners France. Gibraltar finished bottom with zero goals scored, and 41 goals conceded.
The European championships will be played in Germany next summer. The tournament will start on the 14th of June and finish precisely a month later.
