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Netherlands book Nations League last eight spot after convincing win

olympic20games16 November 2024 22:19| © Reuters
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Netherlands © Getty Images

Two first half penalties and two quality strikes in the second half handed the Netherlands a 4-0 win over Hungary on Saturday and a place in the Nations League quarterfinals in March as they guaranteed themselves a top two finish in Group A3.

Wout Weghorst and Cody Gakpo both scored from the spot while Denzel Dumfries and the returning Teun Koopmeiners added two more after the break.

The game at the Johan Cruyff Stadium was halted after seven minutes when Hungary assistant coach Adam Szalai suffered what looked to be a seizure on the bench.

His legs could be seen kicking as he lay on the ground, quickly surrounded by staff members and substitutes.

It led to a 13-minute stoppage while he was being treated and it was only after a discussion among the players on the field that the Hungary team agreed to play on.

But they had to face a penalty immediately as a VAR check found that defender Tamas Nikitscher had handled the ball trying to clear a Gakpo cross in the last action before the game was halted.

Weghorst tucked the ball away to give the Dutch the lead and they won a second penalty in stoppage time at the end of the first half when Donyell Malen was tripped by Zsolt Nagy.

This time Gakpo took the kick and, like Weghorst, sent Denes Dibusz the wrong way.

The Hungary goalkeeper made several excellent stops in the first half to keep the score down to only 2-0, notably tipping Tijjani Reijnders' goal-bound header over the bar.

But in the 64th minute, there was little he could do as Dumfries laced a volleyed shot into the net from an angle after a half clearance fell to him unmarked on the right of the attack.

The Dutch looked a lot more fluent with influential midfielder Frenkie de Jong back in the team for the first time in 13 months after his lengthy ankle injury, which ruled him out of the European Championship in Germany earlier this year.

Koopmeiners was also back for the first time since suffering a groin injury ahead of Euro 2024 and celebrated with a quality header in the 85th minute.

The Netherlands advanced to eight points in the standings, five behind Germany on 13 after their thrashing of Bosnia and Herzegovina 7-0 in Freiburg.

Hungary cannot overhaul the Dutch even if they finish with the same points after their final games on Tuesday because of the head-to-head results between the pair.

Hungary's federation said that the 36-year-old Szalai, a former Bundesliga striker, was recovering in hospital in Amsterdam.

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