Sunday June 27th 2021
Update
Czech Republic in the EM quarter-finals
De Ligt’s curious stumbling block introduces Oranje-Ko
For the Netherlands, the European football championship is already over in the round of 16. A curious stumble from de Ligt leads to dismissal and heralds the end for Oranje. The Czechs use the weakening consistently, a Bundesliga striker makes the decision.
Orange frustration in Budapest: The attack by the Dutch at the European Football Championship was surprisingly stopped in the round of 16. After a disappointing performance, the Elftal lost 2-0 (0-0) against the bravely fighting outsider Czech Republic – and have been waiting for a place in an EM quarter-finals since 2008.
When the team of Bondscoach Frank de Boer was sent off against Matthijs de Ligt (52nd) because of handball, Tomas Holes (68th) and Patrik Schick from Leverkusen caused a hangover among thousands of Oranjes with his fourth tournament goal (80th) -Fans in the stands. It is a bitter damper for the Dutch football euphoria, which had only been rekindled this year by the strong preliminary round.
A bitter evening for Oranje
The Czechs, on the other hand, celebrated a surprise coup and once again gave the Dutch a very bitter evening – like in the legendary EM duel in 2004, when Pavel Nedved, Tomas Rosicky and Co. beat the Dutch. On Saturday, the quarter-finals in Baku will play against Denmark.
“Everything goes through my head. We haven’t done enough. I know that the country’s love for us has grown over the course of the tournament. It’s very painful, very difficult,” said Wijnaldum on TV station NOS: “Von We couldn’t recover from the red card. “
The best offensive of the group stage remained completely harmless in this game and could not meet the high expectations. In the Netherlands, memories of the European Championship in 2008 should come back to life, when Oranje also failed after a perfect preliminary round in the first knockout game due to an outsider.
“This is really crazy. Nobody would have thought that we would make it and get that far. We are incredibly happy,” said Schick. His team “maybe not the big stars”, but the Czech Republic showed an “insane team spirit” and fought “like lions”.
Bondscoach again with a controversial system
“We don’t just want to reach the final, we also want to win it,” de Boer confidently announced, setting the route for the coming days. After the easy stroll through the preliminary round, the Bondscoach again relied on the 5-3-2, which is still controversial in the Netherlands – without Wolfsburg’s Wout Weghorst.
With the momentum from the group stage, the Dutch immediately looked for the way on the offensive. Always in the spotlight: the lightning-fast Memphis Depay and Donyell Malen. Especially after crosses from the flanks, the Elftal caused some dicey situations in the Czech penalty area in the early stages. But only Denzel Dumfries (13th) got a compelling chance.
The Czechs, with Bundesliga stars Schick and Pavel Kaderabek in the starting eleven, braced themselves against the dominant Dutch without their clock and captain Vladimir Darida. But the team of coach Jaroslav Silhavy Oranje skilfully took the initial swing and caused danger themselves through Tomas Souchek (22nd) and Antonin Barak (38th).
Painting is a gift from the guide
The Elftal, on the other hand, lacked the impetus in the offensive game from the so far outstanding Georginio Wijnaldum, who set an example against discrimination of all kinds with a “OneLove” captain’s armband. Except for a few moments, the Dutch disappointed in the first round, only rarely flashed the wit of the offensive stars.
For example, after the break, when Depay Malen staged an ingenious hoe play, but he negligently missed the best opportunity in front of keeper Tomas Vaclik (52nd). On the other hand, de Ligt cleared the ball with his hand in front of Schick, thus preventing a clear scoring chance and flew off the pitch according to video evidence.
The two scenes give the Dutch a shock that the Czechs immediately tried to use. Immediately afterwards, Dumfries barely blocked Kaderabek’s conclusion (64th), but Holes headed the opening goal from close range – and rewarded his team for the urge phase.
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