It turns out Sweden do not have a monopoly on old-fashioned centre-forward play. They were schooled in it here by Brian Brobbey, who was brought in by Ronald Koeman to give the Netherlands’ attack a focal point and swiftly made his under-pressure manager resemble a genius. Brobbey scored twice in the opening 17 minutes to pave the way for a crushing win, proving impossible to handle with a cocktail of strength, touch and finishing.
Koeman had criticised his own decisions after Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Japan, lamenting substitutions that failed to pay off. This time he could, if the mood took him, pat himself firmly on the back. There was yet more to enjoy in the contribution of Crysencio Summerville, who sparkled after his half-time introduction. Summerville finished unerringly late on to complete a rout that leaves Sweden dizzy from finishing on different ends of the same scoreline.
Viktor Gyökeres and Alexander Isak had made hay in the 5-1 win over Tunisia and both tested Bart Verbruggen this time, finding the keeper equal to regular examination. Sweden and their feted strikers woke up after the first-half hydration break, Graham Potter’s switch to a back four loosening the straitjacket, but much of the damage had already been done. The squad are due a belated celebration of midsummer on Sunday, marking a time of year when much of their country sees near-constant daylight, but their World Cup may yet plunge into darkness if they do not master Japan’s threat in Thursday’s decisive final game.
“The scoreline was a bit harsh on us but the Netherlands played well and deserved to win,” Potter said. There was little to quibble with in that; nor was there much complaint when Potter reeled off a list of the victors’ star names and remarked that Sweden were always going to have it tough. His team were torn apart down the flanks, looking far too easy to play through and being punished repeatedly by sheer quality.
Brobbey, who showed an appetite to grapple with his marker, Isak Hien, from the off, quickly emphasised the gulf in class. He was simply too strong for the centre-back when receiving a chest-high pass in the fifth minute, cleverly bringing Tijjani Reijnders into play and allowing a switch left to Cody Gakpo. While Gakpo’s angled centre was perfect, Brobbey deserves credit for not standing to admire his own work. He had bust a gut to meet the delivery, arriving first to convert from close in.
The floodgates were open. “If you look at the number of goals we scored it will create fear among other teams, the quality was great,” said Koeman, who was more modest about his selection of Brobbey for this assignment. Soon Brobbey scored again, touching in after the latest of several marvellous, snaking Denzel Dumfries crosses from the right. He had scored only one international goal before being unleashed on Sweden’s back line.
“You get a smack in the face and then you have to change your plan,” Potter said. Both mid-half pauses were booed loudly by the crowd, a mostly orange mass who evidently know when they are being taken for mugs, but Sweden shrugged off most of their early timidity after the first. By the interval Gyökeres, three times, and Yasin Ayari had forced Verbruggen into smart saves. Ayari blasted narrowly over and a Gustaf Lagerbielke header was ruled narrowly offside, but the transformation was soon rendered irrelevant.
When given oxygen the Netherlands were simply too good, scoring straight after the restart when Summerville twisted Sweden inside out and allowed Dumfries to cross again. Gakpo could not miss from a couple of yards and, enjoying a wildly productive afternoon of his own, proceeded to score another. This time he took a pass from Summerville, who had not been deemed fit to start, and cracked low to Kristoffer Nordfeldt’s right from 20 yards.
“Maybe it was an experience we needed to go through,” Potter said. “A big game, a big occasion, a young developing team.” Isak, whose needless squandering of possession had given the Netherlands their platform to spring upfield for the fourth, played the substitute Anthony Elanga through for an emphatic finish before the hour and for a brief spell Sweden threatened to make matters interesting. Balls fizzed across the box from both flanks but with none of the killer touch their opponents had found.
Instead Summerville, with a pleasingly stroked finish from a similar position to Gakpo’s second, showed how it is done. Neither of these sides look especially reliable but an early statement of this nature should do wonders for the Netherlands’ morale. “We have very good forwards and we can take advantage of that, the team has improved quite a bit,” Koeman said.
Potter needs his own attackers to fire once more against Japan, while keeping the door bolted, in a match that in effect resembles a knockout tie. Surely, in this most forgiving of formats, Sweden will not crash out after making such an exhilarating start. “Sometimes you have to grow to learn these things,” he said of the numerous lessons handed down. They will need to absorb them quickly.
