The PSV Eindhoven striker carried the Oranje through a solid but unflamboyant first round, which sent them to the round of 16 on Saturday against the second in group B (England, Iran, Wales or the United States).

After unblocking the situation against Senegal (2-0) and converting the only shot on target for the Dutch against Ecuador (1-1), Louis van Gaal can still say "Thank you Cody".

"He has everything it takes to become a star and above all a personality open to everything," welcomed his coach.

In the basements of the al-Bayt stadium, his teammates were no less stingy with praise: "It's no surprise, he's an incredible player and now you can see his qualities at the highest level I'm proud of him but he has to keep going because now is when the tournament really starts," said defender Denzel Dumfries.

Relieved of all pressure

This time he was associated in attack with Memphis Depay, tenured for the first time in the World Cup after resuming by ends of matches after two months of absence.

And opened the scoring with a dry strike, after an exchange with Davy Klaassen (26th).

Qatari Hatim Abdelaziz in Doha on November 29, 2022 Anne-Christine POUJOULAT AFP

This is enough to continue to fuel questions from the English press at the Oranje training center around the future of the 23-year-old striker, who has already assured this week that he wants to stay "focused" on the World Cup while rumors send him to Manchester United.

The Netherlands, however, tended to just want to manage after that goal, showing no real appetite to accelerate after a dynamic first twenty minutes.

Qatar took the opportunity to show what it was capable of, in a stadium which only filled up completely (66,784 spectators) about ten minutes after kick-off and began to empty well. before the end.

Relieved of all pressure after their elimination, the Qataris came out very quickly as soon as they could, pulling off some nice combinations and sending some scares down Virgil van Dijk's spine.

"World champion"

The supporters, who perhaps feared a correction against the favorite of the group, did not shy away from their encouragement despite the disappointment of elimination.

A handful of them displayed a banner of support for the Palestinian cause for a few moments, as they have done regularly since the start of the first World Cup in the Arab world.

But the Asian champion, voluntary but limited, was clearly not at the level and could not avoid zero points, unheard of for a host country.

"It will serve us for the future. In the World Cup, the level is really high, we have seen it, but we are still satisfied", positive Karim Boudiaf, midfielder of "Al-Annabi" (the "Bordeaux ").

Dutchman Memphis Depay on November 29, 2022 in Doha Adrian DENNIS AFP

The slim hope of taking a historic first point disappeared in the second half when the Netherlands doubled the lead through Frenkie de Jong.

The midfielder of FC Barcelona, ​​​​who complained the day before of a sore throat, had visibly recovered and was the quickest to take a shot from Memphis Depay repelled by goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham (49th).

The Netherlands could then already concentrate on the meeting of the eighth.

One step only for them, according to the ambitious Gakpo: "our goal is to be world champion".

© 2022 AFP