Cody Gakpo to Face Morocco with Netherlands Despite Family Tragedy

Over the weekend sad news of the passing of Cody Gakpo and partner Noa van der Bij’s unborn child emerged after Van der Bij revealed she had suffered a miscarriage on social media. The announcement led to speculation around Gakpo’s continuing presence with the Dutch national team at the World Cup.

While the forward understandably isn’t expected to speak to the media about his loss, captain Virgil van Dijk and head coach Ronald Koeman have both been asked about the situation ahead of their Round of 32 tie tonight with Morocco, with both saying Gakpo intends to stay with the team and play.

“Being there for Cody is the most important thing,” Van Dijk said when asked about the situation. “It’s terrible. At such a moment it becomes clear again that football is a side issue and there are more important things in life. You never want to go through this, but as the coach says and knowing Cody, he is keen to continue.”

Netherlands take on Morocco tonight from Monterrey, with the Dutch very slight favourites over a Morocco side that is likely Africa’s best hope at this World Cup. While Gakpo might be staying with the team, whether he will be in the right mental state to play could well be another matter entirely.

Gakpo had been one of the best players of the group stages for the Netherlands, scoring two goals and an assist as he helped the Dutch to top a difficult Group F ahead of Japan and Sweden. If they can get past Morocco tonight, they would travel next to face Canada in Houston on July 4th in the Round of 16.

“As a staff we gave him the freedom to go and be with the family in the first few days,” Koeman noted. “There has never been a moment when he said he wants to go home. He has assessed it himself and done it in his own way. I think that shows maturity, how he and the family have dealt with this.

“Now he is ready to play and we think that it doesn’t affect his performance. He deals with this in his own way with the family, and that is very strong and beautiful thing and we have left it that way, but we have tried to be there as support where we could be—the coaches all just like the players.”

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com