– I didn’t see it, but it’s crazy. Madness! I need to see the full picture. But I have not seen anything like this, not random shoes, says Manchester City star Nathan Aké to news. The Netherlands eventually played havoc with Romania, winning comfortably 3–0 in the round of 16. During the match, several objects were thrown onto the pitch. The players have probably become quite used to plastic cups, but also shoes and something that looked like a beach ball could be found on the grass. – A pinball game from another world. And the shoes may have been important for the goal that was to be the nail in the coffin for the Netherlands. Keeper Florin Nita had to kick away a shoe in the second before Donyell Malen fired to make it 3–0. – Why the hell were there shoes on the pitch? wonders Sky journalist Patrick Berger after the match on X/Twitter. Amazes Netherlands players are also amazed by objects thrown onto the pitch. – No, I have not seen that. I see those pictures now. They throw things on the field, but shoes on the field are a bit strange, says Wout Weghorst to news. He is heading towards safety in the championship. – The security is not good, of course. It shouldn’t happen. Five minutes before, there was someone on the pitch. Maybe it was his shoes, it could happen, says Weghorst. Schouten watched the incident from the bench after being substituted. He also closes his eyes at the pictures news shows him. – I have never seen it before. If the keeper was busy with it, it’s a weird situation. I think that if they throw things on the pitch it is not good, the referee should have said something about it. Annoying, because it disrupts the game, he says. The protagonist grins Goalscorer Malen himself also did not get his shoes onto the pitch, despite the fact that they were a few centimeters away from him. – Whose shoes are those? Malen asks news. – Nobody knows. – That’s why he (the defender) didn’t catch the ball, says Gakpo in passing. Malen still believes that the goal should not have been cancelled. – Let’s say I created a chance and someone throws a shoe and the referee blows. Then it is a completely different situation. Fortunately for me, it didn’t happen today, he says and continues: – It’s not in the spirit of football to throw things on the pitch. But that changed nothing today. Concerned about safety, news’s football expert Åge Hareide believes the goalkeeper allows himself to be distracted by the shoes. – It is difficult for him, but if he is so concerned about those shoes, then it is much better to be concerned about the ball that comes through. That’s his main job then. You can leave the shoes to the shoemaker, he says. CAUSES ATTENTION: Several shoes besieged the penalty area for Romania. Photo: AP Iceland’s national team manager believes that people must be protected from possible dangers, such as some more aggressive track stormers. He is also surprised that various objects are thrown onto the pitch from time to time. – You never know what can be thrown in. But everyone is examined when you come in. But it doesn’t get better by taking those shoes off, says Hareide. Eriksen agrees with his expert colleague. – It does disturb him. I don’t understand why he prioritizes it. It will be quite absurd, says news’s football expert Bengt Eriksen. He warns that more serious situations may suddenly arise. – I’m puzzled by that, this with trailblazers. I was at the WC in Germany in 2006 and it was very strict everywhere. In this championship, there has been an unusual amount of nonsense. But path stormers are not nonsense, things can go really wrong there, warns Eriksen. MORE ITEMS: Something similar to a beach ball was also thrown. Here by goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. Photo: Lee Smith / Reuters Gakpo show Romania jumped out from the start, but the Netherlands had to answer the underdog quickly. Cody Gakpo sent the Dutch into the lead when he cut in from the edge and was knocked into the near corner. Ronald Koeman and his crew thus got a good start to the match after around 20 minutes played. They would continue at the same pace and they were close to 2–0 on several occasions. The closest was Memphis Depay, who from five meters failed to put the ball in the net. – It is an absolutely incredible situation. Completely coincidental that it is not 2-0, commented TV 2 expert Brede Hangeland. HERO: Cody Gakpo took center stage as the Netherlands ran away with the win. Photo: Leonhard Simon / Reuters Then Gakpo had to put the ball in the net again. There was a somewhat muted celebration from the Netherlands players after the goal, as several of them probably suspected offside. They were right about that and the TV pictures showed a foot on the wrong side. The Netherlands pushed and pushed with a somewhat precarious 1-0 lead. But in the match there was a mess in Romania’s defense and the Dutch took advantage of that. Gakpo played the ball in to Malen, who had an easy job of scoring from close range. – Here there is a lot of weak defensive play, commented Hangeland. On the tamp, Malen secured 3–0 after a pattern counterattack. That means they will face either Turkey or Austria in the quarter-finals. Published 02.07.2024, at 20.31 Updated 02.07.2024, at 21.22
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– Quite absurd – Football European Championship 2024
