Gakpo's injury overshadows Netherlands win, Spaan points at Infantino

The Netherlands booked a 2-1 victory over Serbia on Sunday, but the shine was dampened by the early exit of Cody Gakpo. A hard scissor tackle by Serbian defender Sacha Lukic forced the Liverpool forward off the field within minutes, after which Ruben van Bommel replaced him.

Gakpo's injury and recovery

Gakpo will miss the rest of the international break and will work in the coming weeks at Liverpool FC on recovering from his ankle injury. The medical examination in Eindhoven confirmed a serious injury, meaning the forward will be out for several weeks.

Columnist Henk Spaan partly blames FIFA chief Gianni Infantino, as he wrote in Het Parool. “Thanks to Infantino, especially on behalf of Real Madrid and Liverpool. One can hope that on Thursday in Greece – the Netherlands will not have a type Lukic participating, who eliminated Gakpo, so to speak: a dirty player type,” Spaan snorts.

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PSV also suffered heavily; shortly after the loss of Ricardo Pepi, injuries followed for Lutsharel Geertruida (Netherlands) and Paul Wanner (Austria). Both players flew back to Eindhoven early for treatment.

Spaan also points to Mexx Meerdink, who, according to him, must stay fit to avoid injuries. He praises Meerdink as the big surprise of the new Dutch national team, with basic technique, depth and two goals after an assist from Reijnders.

On social media the injury was widely shared under the hashtags #gakpo #liverpool #ynwa. The Liverpool forward now has to rehabilitate before he is available again for the Netherlands.