Netherlands fire four past Iceland to head into Euros on a high
Both sides came into this game on the back of fine victories last week with Iceland dispatching England and the Netherlands convincingly defeating Canada. However, the first half was all one-way traffic with the much-changed Dutch looking to give their fans a send-off to remember.
Memphis Depay was probing from the off in Rotterdam and curled an effort over after cutting in from the left on 15 minutes before a close-range overhead kick was also sent over five minutes later.
The breakthrough came in the 23rd minute when Xavi Simons netted his maiden Oranje goal. His PSV Eindhoven teammate Joey Veerman picked out Denzel Dumfries with a diagonal pass from the edge of the box and his perfectly weighted header across goal was finished from six yards by Simons.
Cody Gakpo was also threatening as he hit the side-netting before teeing up Depay twice but the second goal before the break would not come. However, they did not have to wait long after the break for number two and it came from their number four.
A corner kick on 49 minutes was flicked on by both Jerdy Schouten and Nathan Aké before Virgil van Dijk got the final header in front of Hákon Valdimarsson.
Åge Hareide’s tired-looking side spent the bulk of the game on the back foot, with their Norwegian head coach making just one change from their victory at Wembley.
However, Bart Verbruggen in the Dutch goal had to be alert as he tipped a long-range effort from substitute Stefán Þórðarson onto the post with 20 minutes to play.
One of Ronald Koeman’s subs got in on the act as Donyell Malen latched on to a relatively route one ball from Depay to finish clinically on 79 minutes before Depay thought he had his goal two minutes later, finishing a pinpoint Jeremie Frimpong cross. However, it was brought back by VAR for a handball by Veerman.
The fourth did come in stoppage time, with VAR on the Dutch side on this occasion as Wout Weghorst remained onside to finish neatly from Malen’s cutback.
De Oranje open their Euro 2024 campaign in Hamburg on Sunday against Poland, while Iceland will look ahead to their UEFA Nations League campaign in September.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Memphis Depay (Netherlands)