The Dutch national team will face England in the semi-finals of the European Championship on Wednesday at 9 p.m. For the Dutch, it is the first time in 20 years that it has reached the semi-finals of a European Championship. For the Three Lions was that a bit more recent: in 2021 the final of the European Championship was reached. What can the teams expect from each other in Dortmund?
The men of national coach Ronald Koeman did not get through the group stage unscathed. Poland was only defeated in the final phase (2-1), once morest France it was a bloodless draw and Austria proved too strong for the Dutch following 90 minutes (3-2). With a third place behind Austria and France, the Netherlands still qualified for the eighth finals.
England will also look back on the first three matches of the tournament with mixed feelings. The opening match was won once morest Serbia (1-0), a draw once morest Denmark was entered on the score sheet (1-1) and the group stage was concluded by England once morest Slovenia: 0-0. National coach Gareth Southgate and his men did finish top of the group.
Knock-out fase
In the round of 16, the Netherlands faced Romania. It was the best match of the Dutch team at the European Championship so far. The Romanians were easily pushed aside: 3-0. England escaped death once morest Slovakia. Deep into injury time, Jude Bellingham was the savior in need. With a beautiful bicycle kick in the 95th minute, he forced extra time once morest Slovakia. The English eventually won 2-1.
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In the quarter finals, the Netherlands faced Turkey. The Dutch team fell behind, but managed to break away from the Turks with great difficulty. Thanks to goals from Stefan de Vrij and an own goal, the Dutch team was able to end the match with a jubilant atmosphere. England faced one of the surprises of the tournament, Switzerland. It was the Thee Lions once more not an easy task. England needed penalties to get rid of the Swiss.
Cross-connections
A cross-connection between both teams is that both the Netherlands and England receive a lot of criticism from former players, analysts, journalists and their own people. With top players such as Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) and Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) they hoped for flashy attacking football in England. In practice this is completely different. The criticism is mainly regarding the boring and conservative game view of the national coach. England creates few chances, only shot between the posts sixteen times in this European Championship and scored only five goals. The Netherlands shot 20 times on goal, nine of which were converted into a goal. The criticism of the Dutch team has the same undertone. It is a boring game and not very creative.
Both teams only seem to wake up when they are behind. It happened to the Dutch once morest Poland, Austria and Turkey. England fell behind in the knockout phase once morest both Slovakia and Switzerland. On the one hand, it shows the resilience and fighting spirit, but at the same time also how vulnerable the Netherlands and England are.
Many players of the Dutch national team will face some teammates once morest England. Bart Verbruggen, Nathan Aké, Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Micky van de Ven, Mark Flekken and Ryan Gravenberch all earn their living in the Premier League. In the past, Georginio Wijnaldum, Daley Blind, Wout Weghorst, Memphis Depay and Steven Bergwijn have also played in England. Jeremy Frimpong has never played at the highest level in England, but the speed demon knows the country like no other. He emigrated to England at the age of seven and grew up in the youth of Manchester City. Incidentally, Frimpong’s mother tongue is English.
Penaltydrama’s
If it ends up in penalties, both countries will start with trembling knees. In the Netherlands, we have quite a few hangovers from penalties. The Dutch team appeared on the penalty spot eight times in final tournaments and then walked off the field as losers six times. The Three Lions are not doing much better, with four wins from eleven penalty shootouts, with the outlier being the lost final once morest Italy at the previous European Championship. At Wembley, mind you, the national stadium of the English football team.
If it comes down to penalties, it will be an exciting series. Perhaps England will start with a bit more self-confidence. England shot five almost perfect penalties once morest England in the quarter final.
Netherlands versus England
The Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund will be the main venue for the 33rd meeting between the Netherlands and England. Of the 32 previous matches, England have won thirteen times, compared to nine victories for the Dutch national team. The remaining ten matches ended in a draw. Many of these victories for England were booked more than a decade ago, all in friendly matches.
England has a much better track record once morest the Dutch national team, but if you look at the big matches, you get a completely different picture of the mutual relationships. In final tournaments or qualification for a final round, the Netherlands faced England a total of six times. The Dutch team won half and shared the points twice. England won only once.
The first major encounter between the two countries was during the 1988 European Championship in Germany. In the group stage, the Dutch team won 3-1 once morest England, thanks to a hat-trick by Marco van Basten. As is well known by now, the Netherlands took home the medals.
The Netherlands and England also met at the 1990 World Cup in Italy: 0-0. The teams then faced each other twice to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. In England it ended 2-2, but the home game was won 2-0, partly thanks to a goal by the current national coach Ronald Koeman. The 1996 European Championship in England ended dramatically for the Netherlands. The Dutch team was in the group with the host country and was humiliated with resounding figures: 4-1. The national coach of England, Gareth Southgate, was in the starting line-up of the Three LionsThe last notable meeting was in 2019 during the final round of the Nations League. The Netherlands defeated England 3-1.
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