Gakpo went off after 17 minutes, and Meerdink scored twice on his first start to give Xavi his first Netherlands win

Cody Gakpo is the Netherlands’ first-choice penalty taker, and he was off the pitch in Belgrade with an ankle injury before the 20th minute. So when Crysencio Summerville went down under Aleksa Terzić’s challenge on the half-hour, the ball went to Mexx Meerdink, a 23-year-old AZ striker making his first start for his country. He scored it, and then scored the winner in the 69th minute as the Dutch beat Serbia 2-1 on Sunday for Xavi Hernández’s first win in charge.

A striker who was not supposed to start

Meerdink was only in the side because of an injury. Brian Brobbey went off with a hamstring problem in the 1-1 draw with Germany on Thursday and left the squad, and Meerdink, who came on for him that night, got the shirt in Belgrade.

“It is a childhood dream,” Meerdink said afterwards. “Everything has happened so quickly this week. I felt a little pressure before the penalty, but to score twice and help the team win feels great.”

His second goal was the better one. Guus Til, on as a substitute, played him in, and Meerdink slid in to finish into the bottom corner. Serbia had drawn level a minute after half-time through Luka Jović, who finished from close range after a scuffed shot from Saša Lukić, and they came close again when Jović headed a Dušan Tadić corner just wide of the far post.

Gakpo’s ankle and Serbia’s run

Gakpo lasted 17 minutes. He was caught in a tackle by Lukić, went down a few minutes later holding his ankle, and was replaced by Ruben van Bommel. “It’s his ankle, that’s all I know,” Xavi said. “Tomorrow we will know, but hopefully it’s not too important.” Gakpo was due a scan on Monday.

For Serbia this was a fourth defeat in a row, and the second at home in this Nations League campaign after Greece came from behind to win in Belgrade on Thursday. Veljko Paunović was without both of his senior strikers, Dušan Vlahović and Aleksandar Mitrović, and started with both Jović and Tadić on the bench. They came on at half-time, and Jović scored within a minute. I think the bench decision will get more attention in Serbia than anything the defence did, and it should.

Where Group A2 stands

Greece are top with six points after beating Germany 1-0 in Augsburg on Sunday. The Netherlands are second on four, Germany have one, and Serbia have none. Xavi’s side go to Thessaloniki to play Greece on Thursday, 1 October, while Germany host Serbia the same night. The Netherlands then play Serbia again, this time at home, on Sunday, 4 October.

That Greece game looks like the biggest of the window for the Dutch now. Win it and they go top. Lose it, possibly without Gakpo, and Greece would be five points clear after three games.

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