The Netherlands will battle out against the USA in the last-16 phase of FIFA World Cup 2022 at Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday. The Stars and Stripes won one and drew two of their four group stage games to finish second in Group B. Meanwhile, Louis van Gaal’s team ended up topping group A with 7 points and secured their slot in the knockouts.
Commencing their event’s campaign by facing Senegal in the opening match, the Netherlands impressively put on a show against a somewhat lesser opponent and won that game by a score of 2-0, while their subsequent encounter against Ecuador resulted in a 1-1 tie.
The Netherlands defeated the host country Qatar in the last group stage match, advancing them to the tournament knockout rounds. Notably, Cody Gakpo, the team’s spearhead, became the fourth Dutchman in history, scoring in three consecutive games of the World Cup.
The United States has advanced to the Round of 16 for the first time since 2010 and 2014. Perhaps, most of its credit goes to the team’s collaboration, with a little portion going to US talisman Christain Pulisic, who performed an incredible acrobatic maneuver to prevent the Iranians from scoring, preventing a goal, and advancing his team to the knockout rounds.
The Netherlands’ most significant weakness recently has been their inability to strike the target correctly with their shots, even though Gakpo is the lone player scoring every time he gets close to the opposition’s net. In the meantime, the USA has the likes of McKennie and Pulisic.
Netherlands possible starting lineup:
Noppert; Timber, Van Dijk, Ake; Dumfries, De Roon, F. De Jong, Blind; Klaassen; Gakpo, Depay
USA possible starting lineup:
Turner; Dest, Carter-Vickers, Ream, Robinson; McKennie, Adams, Musah; Weah, Sargent, Pulisic
