Tijjani Reijnders once again took on the task of leading the Netherlands midfield last night but he did so for the first time in a knockout stage game at a major tournament, and he did another fine job.
With a 3-0 win against Romania yesterday the Dutch booked their place in the quarter-finals, where they will face Hakan Calhanoglu’s Turkey on Saturday evening at 21:00 CEST for a spot in the semi-final of the competition.
Once again, as Radio Rossonera relay, the Italian press – more specifically La Gazzetta dello Sport, Tuttosport and Corriere dello Sport – praised the performance of Reijnders who played the full 90 minutes and was the metronome in the middle of the park.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (7 out of 10): “A vending machine: even without putting a coin in, it distributes balls with 96% accuracy. The best? For Dumfries.”
Tuttosport (6.5): “He manages to perform in box to box, fifty metres with the ball at his feet to give numerical superiority in the attacking half of the pitch.”
Corriere dello Sport: 6.5.
Reijnders numbers vs. Romania were as follows: 90 minutes played, 88 touches, 69/72 passes completed (96%), 2/3 long balls completed, 4 ground duels won, 2 clearances and 2 tackles. The all-action midfielder continues to take the Oranje toward potential dreamland.