Euro 2024 preview: Netherlands need to raise game for Romania

Cody Gakpo has challenged the Netherlands to wipe the slate clean for today's Euro 2024 last-16 meeting with Romania (5pm, RTÉ2/RTÉ Player) after narrowly escaping their group with an underwhelming effort.

The Dutch will be looking to improve on a campaign that saw them set up the Munich meeting as one of the four best third-place finishers after the group stage.

The Liverpool forward shared head coach Ronald Koeman's assessment that his side lacked energy in their first three meetings, and vowed the Oranje had more in the tank following their 3-2 loss to Austria.

Gakpo said: "We will need to start fighting from the first few seconds. We’ve got a good plan. Everybody was disappointed (after Austria).

"We knew it has to be better. We discussed it, we trained on that basis, and we got through, and now it will really start."

Koeman said: "It has been a very long week. Seven days is a long period between two matches at a tournament like this.

"We've certainly had enough time to review and analyse the match against Austria, and what went wrong. We didn't play compact enough, which sometimes makes it seem like you're not aggressive enough.

"Players and staff were open with each other. After that you continue and look for a reaction in training. Everyone knows that things can and should be done differently and now we look forward to seeing the confirmation of that tomorrow."

Injuries to key midfielders like Frenkie de Jong, Marten de Roon, and Teun Koopmeiners have seen Koeman struggle to find the right combination in the middle.

"It's a long story and I don't like to talk too much about who is missing," he said. "This is the squad that we have and we need to improve, but it's not only the midfield but sometimes the communication