The Netherlands disappointed with only three goals, also because the best football players of the dwarf state played almost a half with ten men. Liam Walker received a red card for a hard foul on the debuting Mats Wieffer.
The Orange will play again in June when Croatia, Italy and Spain come to the Netherlands for the final round of the Nations League. The formation of the returned national coach Ronald Koeman continues the qualifying tournament for the European Championship in September with games against Ireland and Greece, two serious competitors for direct qualification for the European final round of 2024 in Germany.
The wave rippled through De Kuip early in the duel with Gibraltar. The more than 36,000 supporters had heard Koeman say on Sunday that the Orange had to respond to the defeat against the French with a lot of goals. But the Orange team finished sloppily and Gibraltar, the number 200 in the world ranking, did not want to participate in a goal feast. The semi-pros stretched from the first minute, simulated injuries and waited a long time before throwing in. A nasty duel soon ensued.
For a player, the meeting with Gibraltar was not one to forget very quickly. Feyenoord player Wieffer, still active for Excelsior last season, made his debut for the national team. Matthijs de Ligt, recovered from a stomach flu, also appeared at kick-off. Just like Denzel Dumfries, who returned from a suspension, and striker Wout Weghorst, who, like Wieffer, was born in Borne, Twente, who missed opportunities.
The Dutch attacked and also had quite a few opportunities, but only Memphis Depay scored before the break. The attacker celebrated his 44th goal for the Orange and needs six more hits to equal all-time top scorer Robin van Persie. Koeman heard the discontent growing in the stands in the final phase of the first half. He intervened during the break and brought in Cody Gakpo and Donyell Malen for Georginio Wijnaldum and Steven Berghuis.
Especially Gakpo let the home team play better football. But it was Nathan Aké who doubled the score in the 50th minute. Less than a minute later, Gibraltar had to continue with ten men, after a hard foul from Walker on Wieffer. With one more player on the field, the Orange scored only one more goal. Again Ake was the goalscorer.
