2022 World Cup Young Talentary Self-SELLing EVENts, One Of Which Iskoal Gakpo

JAKARTA - In every prestigious football tournament there are always players who can make it a stage to light the spotlight, and at the 2022 World Cup

The 23-year-old talent stole the attention of football fans for always scoring goals for the Netherlands in their three Group A preliminary phase matches.

The PSV Eindhoven academy dropout made his debut for the Orange Team at Euro 2020 last year, but at that time he only appeared as a substitute in the match against North Macedonia and only appeared 11 minutes plus three minutes extra time.

After Euro 2020, Gakpo was shining even more at club level when he scored 21 goals overall in 47 games in all competitions for PSV in the 2021-2022 season.

Sinar Gakpo became clearer when he brought 13 goals in 24 appearances with PSV which practically guaranteed his place in the Dutch squad for the 2022 World Cup.

After only being a substitute in his first prestigious tournament, Gakpo proved his progress by winning the trust of head coach Louis van Gaal to always be fielded as the Netherlands' first eleven in every Group A preliminary match.

Gakpo paid off the trust by always netting the ball into the goals of Senegal, Ecuador, and Qatar sequentially within 10 days.

⚽️ v Senegal⚽️ v Ecuador⚽️ v QatarCody Gakpo is having an amazing #FIFAWorldCup! 📈

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 29, 2022

Van Gaal initially put Gakpo as the main attacking midfielder in the 3-5-2 scheme he applied to the Netherlands in their first match in Group A against Senegal.

Despite occupying the position behind the two attackers, Gakpo actually became a deadlock solver when he escaped the Senegal defense radar while ahead of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to head home Frenkie de Jong's cross ball.

The goal proved the sharpness of Gakpo in front of goal which forced Van Gaal to give Gakpo a place as one of the two attackers in the 3-5-2 formation which he continued to apply during the group phase.

Receiving a different role seems to be no problem for Gakpo, who in the second match only needed six minutes to shake Ecuador's net.

Gakpo once again paid off Van Gaal's trust when he carefully sprinkled salt on the wounds Qatar had suffered by his third goal in three consecutive games.

"He has everything to be a great player, especially because of his very open mind to receiving new input," Van Gaal told a news conference after the Netherlands' 2-0 win over Qatar at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Tuesday, quoted by Antara.

"He has only played regularly for PSV for the past 2-3 years and he has always played a position from the left side of the front line instead of position number 10. But for me he has to play that role, and I'm sure he will think I'm a good coach and thank you for that opportunity," he said.

The 2022 World Cup still has more than half a month left to play, including one of the last 16 matches that the Netherlands will play as winners of Group A against Group B runners-up.

Regardless of the extent to which Gakpo was able to help the Dutch step into the 2022 World Cup, what is clear is that he will be increasingly being hunted by elite European clubs after this event is completed.

Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester United are the three teams that have been hunting for Gakpo, meanwhile, through his performances in Qatar, PSV could have increased the talent's price, which was previously at 40-45 million euros.