World Cup: Pointless hosts reduced to Dutch orange squash in Group A
1-0 at the break looked respectable but one felt the Netherlands could step on the gas any time they needed, which they did on 48 minutes
THE Netherlands needed just one Group A point for mathematical certainty of promotion to the Round of 16.
They did far better than that, ambling to a 2-0 victory over hosts Qatar, who held out until the 25th minute when on-form PSV striker Cody Gakpo drove unchecked through a trio of defenders to slide the ball into the far corner from edge of box – his third goal at this World Cup.
Once the Oranje had scored the goal they needed, the urgency was gone and it looked like a Sunday kick-about in the park.
A walking-in Memphis Depay strolled into the last third at will, while Daley Blind was anything but in seeing openings and setting up attacks down the left flank.
Qatar played well in the latter stages of the half and looked a decent side with a few attacks that promised something but delivered zilch as Virgil van Dijk & Co looked untroubled at the back.
Qatar just never seemed confident enough to throw more men forward, for fear of being caught vulnerable on the break.
A score line of 1-0 at the break looked respectable but one felt the Netherlands could step on the gas any time they needed, which they did on 48 minutes when a shot from Depay was well saved by Meshaal Barsham but Frenkie de Jong reacted first to the rebound to double the advantage.
Berghuis would have another in the net but it was disallowed for an earlier handball.
Netherlands were in no hurry and only once was Andries Noppert called on to deny Qatar, while Steven Bergwijn rocked the intersection of post and cross bar on the 90.
Six meaningless minutes of time were added on before the final whistle ended the exhibition match.
The entire exercise was pointless in more ways than one for the host nation, who scored no wins and no goals in three matches.
Truth be told, most eyes and ears at the stadium were focused on the much more relevant match between Ecuador and Senegal, being played at the same time.
