Submit a comment
EURO 2024 semi-final results early morning July 11: England came from behind to defeat the Netherlands to advance to the final against Spain.
Expected lineup:
Netherlands:Verbruggen; Dumfries, De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake; Schouten, Reijnders; Malen, Simons, Gakpo; Depay.
Older brother:Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guehi; Saka, Mainoo, Rice, Trippier; Bellingham, Foden; Kane.
England have qualified for the semi-finals of EURO 2024 after a dramatic match against Switzerland. However, Southgate's team has been criticised for their dry and unconvincing style of play.
Meanwhile, although the Netherlands finished the group stage in 3rd place, due to falling into a favorable bracket, coach Ronald Koeman and his team are slowly and surely progressing towards entering the top 4 teams.
Although the Netherlands still revealed limitations at EURO 2024, in terms of overall gameplay, the "Orange Storm" still showed a breakthrough in attack organization and dedication.
However, in the knockout match, coach Ronald Koeman will certainly have to calculate, so it is not impossible that the Netherlands will play pragmatically against England. Basically, this is the most reasonable strategy, because if they play offensively against the Three Lions, the "Orange Storm" risks being counterattacked by the opponent.
The Three Lions are a team with many superstars in their squad. They have the best strikers and wingers in Europe and the world, so even the smallest mistake can cause the Netherlands to regret.
Line-up:
Netherlands:Verbruggen; Dumfries, De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake; Schouten, Reijnders; Malen, Simons, Gakpo; Depay.
Subs: Geertruida, de Ligt, Wijnaldum, Weghorst, Frimpong, Bijlow, Van de Ven, Veerman, Blind, Brobbey, Maatsen, Zirkzee, Flekken, Bergwijn, Gravenberch.
Older brother:Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guehi; Saka, Mainoo, Rice, Trippier; Foden, Bellingham; Kane.
Subs: Shaw, Alexander-Arnold, Ramsdale, Konsa, Dunk, Gallagher, Toney, Gordon, Watkins, Bowen, Eze, Gomez, Henderson, Palmer, Wharton.
1': The match has begun !!!The Netherlands team took the field in orange shirts and orange shorts, while the England players wore white shirts and blue shorts and won the right to serve first in the first half.
4': No !!!In a quick counter-attack by the Dutch players, the ball was passed to Malen who entered the penalty area but the English defenders intervened promptly and goalkeeper Pickford was able to rush out and catch the ball.
7': GOAL!!! Declan Rice loses the ball in his own half and Simons charges straight through before unleashing a right-footed shot from outside the box, into the top corner of Pickford's net to put the Netherlands 1-0 up against England!!!
11': Chance !!!Foden crossed the ball from a direct free kick on the left wing in the direction of England's attack and across the 16m50 line. Harry Kane and a series of England players entered the penalty area but Ake headed the ball away from goalkeeper Verbruggen's goal.
13': Continuous shots !!!Harry Kane fired a right-footed shot from outside the box in an open position, unmarked, but goalkeeper Verbruggen dived in time to punch the ball away to save the Netherlands.
Immediately after that, Saka broke through the penalty area and finished, creating a chaotic situation in the Dutch penalty area. Harry Kane quickly volleyed the ball with his right foot, sending it over the crossbar of Dutch goalkeeper Verbruggen's goal.
After trying to finish against Dumfries, Harry Kane was in pain.
16': PENALTY !!! After consulting VAR, the referee determined that Dumfries had kicked Harry Kane in the penalty area and awarded England a penalty, as well as giving the Dutch defender a warning card.
On the 11m mark, Harry Kane himself kicked the ball with his right foot into the left corner of the goal, the ball went low and hard so goalkeeper Verbruggen, although he dived in the right direction, could not touch the ball. The score was equalized 1-1 for England against the Netherlands in the 18th minute !!!
23': NO GOAL !!!Mainoo broke through the middle before playing a delicate pass to Foden, who deftly handled two Dutch defenders and took on goalkeeper Verbruggen before firing a right-footed shot into the near corner. Verbruggen was fooled and unable to block, but Dumfries was able to get back on the line to save the Dutch.
29': Can't shoot !!!Malen entered the penalty area after Depay's delicate through ball and decided to shoot with his right foot but Kyle Walker used his body to block the ball in front of England goalkeeper Pickford.
In the corner kick situation right after that, the ball was hung into the penalty area for Dumfries to jump high and head the ball, hitting the crossbar of the England team's goal and bouncing out.
32': The goalpost saves the goal!!!Foden unleashed a delicate left-footed shot, drawing a beautiful curve from outside the box. Goalkeeper Verbruggen dived but could not touch the ball but the post saved the Netherlands.
39': Dangerous !!!A series of small and well-coordinated moves from England players from Mainoo to Walker and Foden had the chance to unleash a left-footed shot from outside the box. The ball went low into the far corner but goalkeeper Verbruggen dived to catch the ball and save the Netherlands.
45'+3: Shot !!!A Dutch player's cross-field play. The ball was hung from the right wing for Ake to enter the penalty area and head the ball back but it did not go into the goal of England goalkeeper Pickford.
End of first half !!!The Netherlands and England temporarily tied 1-1 after the first half.
Simons opened the scoring for the Netherlands in the 7th minute with a cannon shot from outside the box. However, Harry Kane equalized for England from the penalty spot in the 18th minute.
In the first half, if the crossbar denied Dumfries and Holland a powerful header, the post also prevented Foden from scoring a superb goal for England.
46': The second half begins !!! England make a substitution when Luke Shaw is brought in by coach Gareth Southgate to replace Trippier.
60': Tight game !!!In the first 15 minutes of the second half, England completely controlled the game when the Netherlands accepted to retreat deep to play defense and counterattack.
65': No goal !!!The ball was hung into the penalty area from a free kick in the middle of the field, diagonally to the right wing in the direction of the Dutch players' attack for Virgil van Dijk to touch the ball close to the goal but goalkeeper Pickford dived to punch the ball to save England.
74': Counter attack !!!Gakpo had a chance to break down the left wing to enter the penalty area and face England goalkeeper Pickford, but Kyle Walker quickly dropped back to intercept the ball, preventing the opponent player from advancing.
77': Chance !!!The ball was hung from the left wing by Gakpo into the England penalty area, Weghorst could not head the ball but it went right to Xavi Simons and the Dutch number 7 quickly fired a right-footed shot but the ball hit the ground before landing in the hands of goalkeeper Pickford.
79': GOAL NOT RECOGNIZED !!!Foden passed the ball to Kyle Waker down the right wing, before crossing for Saka to finish past Dutch goalkeeper Verbruggen.
However, the referee did not recognize the goal because he thought Kyle Walker was offside before crossing for Saka to score.
88': Dangerous !!!Luke Shaw had the ball comfortably on the left wing before passing back to Cole Palmer to unleash a left-footed shot that went over the bar past Dutch goalkeeper Verbruggen.
90': GOAL!!! Cole Palmer made a delicate pass for Watkins to break free and turn and finish with his right foot, sending the ball through the Dutch defender's legs, into the far corner before hitting the net of goalkeeper Verbruggen, raising the score to 2-1 for England!!!
90'+6: FULL TIME !!! England came from behind to win 2-1 against the Netherlands in the EURO 2024 semi-finals at Signal Iduna Park Stadium, Germany.
Simons opened the scoring for the Netherlands in the 7th minute with a cannon shot from outside the box. However, Harry Kane equalized for England from the penalty spot in the 18th minute.
In the first half, if the crossbar denied Dumfries and Holland a powerful header, the post also prevented Foden from scoring a superb goal for England.
The second half was a time when the two teams played tit for tat.
It seemed that the match would have to be decided in extra time, but in the 90th minute, substitute Watkins scored, helping England come from behind to defeat the Netherlands and advance to the EURO 2024 final to face Spain.
This result means that England became the fourth team in history to win the right to play in the final match of two consecutive EUROs !!!
The Netherlands and England have both had disappointing moments in their EURO journeys, but they have survived and are now just one win away from reaching the final. This will be a fateful reunion between two teams who have met twice in the past at EURO.
Having reached the semi-finals at least three times in four major tournaments as England manager, Gareth Southgate has both talent and luck, although he has had more luck at EURO this time. However, the Three Lions still missed out on a title and only a victory can make Southgate's tenure a success.
After coming through the group stage with just two goals, England were almost eliminated by Slovakia but Jude Bellingham rescued his team with a diving header in the 90+5 minute, before Harry Kane scored to make it 2-1 in extra time. In the quarter-finals England fell behind again, but Bukayo Saka restored parity shortly afterwards and England won 5-4 on penalties.
Having successfully “given birth” in his 100th match in charge of the England national team, Southgate will now take his students to face the Netherlands for the second time in a major tournament. Although Marcus Rashford gave England the lead from a penalty, England were punctured by Mathijs De Ligt in the 73rd minute before two goals in extra time helped the Netherlands win 3-1 in the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League 2019.
Southgate personally has fond memories of meeting the Netherlands as a player, that was in the group stage of EURO 1996 when England crushed the Netherlands 4-1 thanks to 2 braces from Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham. But in their first meeting in a EURO, Koeman also had his moment when he and the Netherlands won 3-1 against England in the group stage of EURO 1988 thanks to a hat-trick from Marco Van Basten.
Koeman's Netherlands have not been very convincing since the start of the tournament, finishing third in the group stage after a 3-2 defeat to Austria. However, after an easy win over Romania, they came back to beat Türkiye 2-1 in the quarter-finals after the appearance of Wout Weghorst from the bench. Despite their poor results, they are the third highest scorers in the tournament and have never looked out of place in their play.
The pressure of past results is weighing heavily on the Netherlands, as apart from EURO 1988, the Netherlands have reached the semi-finals of the tournament four other times and then been eliminated. However, the Dutch players are in a relaxed mood, and they also have stability in terms of force as Koeman is expected to maintain the same formation he has used since the beginning of the tournament.
Meanwhile, England will welcome back Marc Guehi from suspension to replace Ezri Konsa. Southgate switched to a three-man defence during his suspension, so Guehi will be tested in a new formation. Luke Shaw played against Switzerland and could be fit for the Netherlands.
If it had to go to penalties, England would have the advantage because of the excellent penalty takers Southgate brought to the tournament, from Ivan Toney to Cole Palmer. But the Dutch strikers have become more in tune with each game and they even have a “plan B” in times of trouble, while England still rely on individual moments, their best play being the overhead header that the Dutch often use with Weghorst.
Koeman was in charge of the win over England at EURO 1988, the loss of the Three Lions to the 1994 World Cup and the defeat of Southgate from the Nations League. At his current pace, he will probably continue to make England suffer, even if the match goes into extra time.
