The Netherlands delivered a historic Nations League performance on Friday. The Dutch national team crushed Greece 7-0 at the Johan Cruijff ArenA to all but secure their place in the quarter-finals.
Tijjani Reijnders was the star with a first-half hat-trick, the first for the Netherlands since Marco van Basten in 1990. Crysencio Summerville opened the scoring after six minutes. Reijnders doubled the lead from a Joey Veerman assist before adding a third and fourth, set up by Donyell Malen and Denzel Dumfries. Jurriën Timber headed in the fifth before half-time, with the match effectively over as a contest after just 23 minutes.
After the break, Timber netted his second of the night and Malen completed the 7-0 rout. Head coach Xavi Hernández was able to make numerous substitutions. The stats reflected the dominance: thirteen shots on target to Greece's one. This result extends their strong recent form to two wins and a draw from their last three matches.
Line-up
The Netherlands started with Verbruggen in goal. Dumfries, Van Hecke, Van de Ven and Timber formed the defence. Veerman, Reijnders and De Jong were in midfield, with Summerville, Malen and Gakpo up front. Frenkie de Jong was replaced at half-time by Teun Koopmeiners. The side was missing the injured Matthijs de Ligt, Memphis Depay and Steven Bergwijn.
The victory means the Netherlands, with seven points from three games, are virtually assured of a top-two finish in League A Group 5. Even a 13-goal defeat to Germany on Monday would not endanger their quarter-final place. Xavi Hernández's side are unbeaten in their last three matches, with two wins and a draw. The last meeting with Germany, in September, finished 1-1. The next fixture is away to Germany on Monday. For that key away match on Monday 16 November, the head coach can again call upon the in-form Tijjani Reijnders, who is now the team's top scorer following his hat-trick.
