Imperturbable in defense and devilishly effective in attack.

At the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, the Netherlands have again applied the recipe of Louis Van Gaal, the same which had allowed the coach to take his team to the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup.

And as in Brazil, the Dutch could cross paths with Argentina in the quarter-finals, who had deprived them of a final eight years ago.

The albiceleste faces Australia in the evening (8:00 p.m.).

It was two cogs that already made the Dutch mechanisms work in 2014 that allowed the Netherlands to win: striker Memphis Depay and defender Daley Blind, each time receiving a cross in withdrawal of Denzel Dumfries.

Depay opened the scoring after a nice collective movement from the Oranje, in which he served as a relay then as a finisher at the penalty spot (10th), scoring his first goal since September 17.

Then Blind imitated him by crossing again his shot with the right foot in the same place (45th + 1).

American promises

Twice a passer, Dumfries then turned into a scorer (81st) by taking a cross from … Blind, to extinguish the last hopes of Team USA born from a very lucky goal scored by incoming Haji Wright ( 76th) after a pass from Christian Pulisic.

The defender of the Netherlands Denzel Dumfries author of a goal and an assist during the victory against the United States (3-1), synonymous with qualification for the quarter-finals, on December 3, 2022 in Doha © ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP

Nothing helped, these Netherlands did not tremble;

they could even have added to the score in the second period by being more precise, and no matter the criticism that Van Gaal and his 5-3-2 generate at home.

"In 2014, it was exactly the same thing, it was very negative, the coach replied before the meeting. Same today, always the same story, so I'm used to it and I think my players too are used to it. We will continue quietly on the path on which we are embarked."

So don't expect to see these mechanical Oranje break out of their cold, sometimes restrictive playstyle on the next turn.

Especially since in this system, the phenomenon Cody Gakpo (three goals), the ghost Depay (two months without playing before the World Cup) and the untenable Dumfries sparks.

Team USA tried to stop the Dutch machine, in vain.

But during this World Cup, the young team of Gregg Berhalter showed great promise that they will want to confirm at the next World Cup, which will take place partly in the United States.

© 2022 AFP