It was the double act expected to provide all the entertainment at Virgil Van Dijk‘s expense. But the Swedish script was ripped up by a solo one, previously unheralded on the biggest stage.
Forget Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres. And take a bow Brian Brobbey. Or ‘Mr Brobbey’ as he is now known.
Two goals from the Sunderland striker, recalled to the starting line up by Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman, saw the joke being on the Swedish defenders instead of Van Dijk.
All the Liverpool captain and defensive rock had to do was stand back and watch Brobbey, with some help from Cody Gakpo, rip through the Swede’s defence like a knife through the nation’s famous meatballs.
Mincemeat felt more appropriate, because this is what Brobbey reduced Aston Villa’s Victor Lindelof & Co to. Unlike Isak and Gyokeres, Brobbey looked like a world class forward. He was a handful of pace and power from start to finish, with an all-round performance which announced him to the world.
Apart from all those watching from back on Wearside, of course. Brobbey might have only scored seven goals for Sunderland last season.
But the one he managed to help his side beat bitter rivals Newcastle at St James’ Park in March, etched his name into the club’s folklore.
And for all the praise now heading in his direction, the same amount of criticism hurtling towards Isak, Gyokeres and Sweden manager Graham Potter, will be just as intense.
Gyokeres did at least show some signs of life at times. While Isak created two chances for Gyokeres before half time, which the Arsenal forward wasted.
View 3 ImagesAlexander Isak struggled against Liverpool teammate Virgil van Dijk(Image: Getty Images)
And once the game had been taken away from Sweden, these two looked less and less likely to haul their team back into it. Isak’s most notable contribution took place before the hour mark, when he gave the ball to the Netherlands, which allowed them to break and make it 4-0 through Gakpo.
And it was this which he will be best remembered for, from a game which saw the Swedes left grounded in Houston. “Houston We Have A Solution” was the message on some of the Dutch fans’ T-shirts.
But it’s Potter who now has to find answers to the one burning question being fired around the Swedish camp. Can Isak and Gyokeres form a strike partnership capable of taking his team past the group stages and beyond?
View 3 ImagesBrian Brobbey shone for the Netherlands vs Sweden(Image: Getty Images)
The hopes of a nation rest on the shoulders of these two. If the duo can click, they could be the most lethal attacking partnership in the whole tournament.
Isak and Gyokeres cost their respective clubs a combined £190m last summer. And Potter still believes the best is still to come from the pair.
“They bring different attributes,” he said, “they compliment each other well and I think together, they can be a real threat.”
Yet on current evidence, most of those Swedish supporters who made the long trek to Houston for nothing, would strongly disagree.
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