Cody Gakpo: The Netherlands goalscorer who grew up with a poster of Jefferson Farfán in his room

When we thought that the new generation of Netherlands would live under the eclipse of past players, Cody Gakpo took the lead and showed that ‘Mechanical Orange’ is in Qatar to fight and, why not, dream of the title. The striker of the team led by Louis Van Gaal is today the top scorer for his team in the World Cup.

Three goals and three caps in his first World Cup experience for the 23-year-old. This morning against the hosts in a great collective play, typical of this team, with many first-round passes and an assist from Davy Klassen, Cody Gakpo finished off the goal with three Qatari players practically on top of him to shout to heaven and secure the first Netherlands place in group A.

Before Senegal and Ecuador this story was repeated. Gakpo was key to open the account in minute 84 against the Africans and seal the victory. While against Ecuador his goal signed an important tie. The young man has ended up becoming that goal-scoring hero that this team needed so much and also he has become the first player in the history of the Netherlands to score in every group stage match at a World Cup.

With this new goal against Qatar The PSV footballer has equaled Lionel Messi in terms of the number of goals and assists accumulated in the 2022/23 season at club and national team level with 35 in total. A figure that says a lot about the excellent quality of the striker.

The player was formed since 2007 in the minor divisions of PSVAfter hard years of work, in 2016 he reached the second team and two years later they would call him to the first team. He made his professional debut on February 25, 2018 against Feyernoord in the Eredivisie and now he is an irreplaceable striker in the starting eleven. On more than one occasion, Gakpo has recognized that one of his childhood idols was Jefferson Farfán.

The forward confessed in an interview that he cut out the photos of the Peruvian from magazines and put them in his room because he was his fan in the years in which Farfán played for the team of his loves. “I loved seeing Afellay and Farfán. I used to take the magazine and take out the pictures and stick them on my wall. When I was a little older I had Barcelona players like Ronaldinho and Eto’o”, sentenced.

It is worth remembering the incredible career that Jefferson Farfán had during his time in the Netherlands. The Peruvian arrived at PSV in 2004 for his first experience abroad at the age of 20. After his success as a footballer in Alianza Lima, Farfán traveled to Europe to begin writing his history in European football. He spent four seasons in the team where he positioned himself as one of the best forwards, becoming a legend to this day. He won the national league four times: Eredivisie, once the Dutch Cup and also the Dutch Super Cup to end his career at PSV.

Cody Gakpo has been in professional football for four years and it is already the second time he represents the Absolute Selection in an international competition. In 2020 he was present at the eurocup and played a match against North Macedonia. The Netherlands said goodbye to the tournament in the round of 16. Now for Qatar 2022 Van Gaal once again shows his confidence in him and Gakpo responds on the field at the point of goals.