Cody Gakpo's partner Noa van der Bij announced on Saturday that the couple lost their unborn son during pregnancy. Gakpo is expected to start for the Netherlands against Morocco on Monday anyway. That sentence shouldn't need context — but the way his teammates and coach have spoken about him this week makes it land even harder.
Ronald Koeman gave Gakpo immediate time off to be with his family, who are staying near the Dutch base in Kansas City. "Of course, the first few days he had the freedom to go out to his family and be with them," Koeman said. "He dealt with it very well, there was never a moment where he said 'I want to go back, I want to be with the family.'"
Van Dijk says football comes second
Virgil van Dijk didn't dress it up. "There are more important things in life. It's very sad but Cody deals with it." The captain also confirmed that the most the squad could do was ask what Gakpo needed and follow his lead — which they did.
"He's very mature, very adult. I have lots of respect for the way he and his family are handling this. However awful it is, I respect it very much."
Gakpo himself has made no public statement.
For the Netherlands, his presence in this knockout round is significant. He's been one of their most consistent attacking threats at this tournament, and Morocco will have planned their defensive shape around containing him. Whether he can carry that mental weight into a last-32 tie — and still be dangerous — is something no analyst can model.
Some stories don't have a clean football angle. This is one of them. Whatever happens on the pitch Monday, that's the secondary detail.
