The Netherlands and England will face each other in the second semi-final clash of Euro 2024. The match will be played on Wednesday, July 10, at 22:00 Bulgarian time at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund.
Both teams enter with ambitions to reach the title decider, although they have had mixed performances so far. The Tulips started with a hard-fought win over Poland, then drew 0:0 with France in which they controversially had a goal disallowed that could have given them the win. In their final group stage match, Ronald Koeman's side were outplayed and lost 2:3 to Austria, but still progressed as one of the top three teams. The Dutch then turned things up and beat Romania 3:0 in the round of 16, and in the quarter-finals they had to make a late comeback against Turkey for a 2:1 final. However, the Netherlands boast an effective attack and 9 goals scored, as well as the number 1 scorer in the competition so far - Cody Gakpo (3 goals).
For their part, England went into the tournament as favorites because of the formidable talent available to coach Gareth Southgate. However, the game of the Three Lions never took off, as in the group stage the team recorded only one win and scored only two goals, but still finished in first place. England's problems continued in the knockout stages, with the team needing a Jude Bellingham equalizer to reach extra-time in the Round of 16 with Slovakia, before Harry Kane sealed a 2:1 victory. The quarter-final clash with Switzerland was again not an easy one, with England again minutes away from elimination, but Bukayo Saka equalized 10 minutes from time. In the end it came down to penalties where England made no mistake and went ahead. However, England can count on the great individual class of its players, as well as the experience gained in recent championships - for the team, this will be the third semi-final of the world and European championships in the last six years.
The history of the rivalry between England and the Netherlands is interesting, especially in European championships. The Tulips beat England in the group stage of Euro 1988 en route to their only trophy in their history. Eight years later, in front of their own fans, the Three Lions got their revenge and beat the Netherlands 4:1 after two goals from Alan Shearer and two more from Teddy Sheringham. Doubts then remain that England let their opponents score a late consolation goal through Patrick Kluivert, the goal that knocked Scotland out of the quarter-finals at the expense of the Netherlands.
The two teams were previously drawn in the same qualifying group for the 1994 World Cup and the Netherlands knocked England out after a draw at Wembley and a win at home. Southgate also tasted defeat in an important clash with the Netherlands - the Tulips won the 2019 Nations League semi-final.
The good news for Southgate is that centre-back Mark Guehi is back from suspension and Luke Shaw is now ready to start after recovering from injury. Thus, England have all the best for the important clash. The same goes for Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman.
The main referee of the meeting will be Felix Zwayer from Germany.
Expected lineups:
Netherlands: Verbruggen, Dumfries, De Vrij, Van Dijk, Ake, Schouten, Simmons, Reijnders, Malen, Depay, Gakpo
England: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Guehi, Shaw, Saka, Rice, Mainoo, Bellingham, Foden, Kane. | BGNES
