(Football news) A win would put them in the final four against either Switzerland or England, and both teams will be hoping to advance after making different kinds of progress in the previous round.
The Netherlands, who are only three wins away from winning the Henri Delaunay trophy, have safely clinched a spot in the quarterfinals of the Euro 2024 Championship despite an unimpressive start to their most recent campaign.
Ronald Koeman’s team is among the favorites in the ‘weaker’ part of the draw, considering that they only finished third in Group D after defeating Austria 3-2, drawing with France, and winning against Poland.
Handed a relatively kind last-16 tie against Romania, the Oranje ultimately ran out 3-0 winners, and it could easily have been more: they had 50 touches inside the Romanian area – the highest number recorded by a Netherlands team on record.
The Dutch broke the deadlock courtesy of Cody Gakpo’s 20th-minute strike in Munich, and after passing up a series of chances, it was then left to second-half substitute Donyell Malen to bag a late brace and finally seal the deal.
Now, Koeman is honing in on repeating a feat from his playing days, when he was part of the squad that produced the nation’s only major men’s trophy to date: a European Championship winner in 1988, the former Barcelona boss is intent on doing it all again 36 years later as head coach.
With Xavi Simons starting to fulfil his potential, and Gakpo picking up two ‘Man of the Match’ awards and battling it out for the Golden Boot, Oranje fans are starting to dream; however, Saturday’s opponents have already proven their mettle.
Kicking off their last-16 contest with the European Championship’s fastest-ever knockout round goal, Turkey were quickly on course for the quarter-finals when they met fellow dark horses Austria on Tuesday.
Having only scored twice in 47 previous international appearances, centre-back Merih Demiral then doubled his tally during the course of one match – but the Austrians bit back and were within a whisker of taking a pulsating game into extra time.
Only a moment of Mert Gunok magic denied Ralf Rangnick’s team the chance to take the tie into an additional period, as Turkey’s goalkeeper flew across his goal to make an incredible last-gasp save that seemed to defy all logic.
The Crescent-Stars were missing captain Hakan Calhanoglu following their disciplinary meltdown against the Czech Republic during the group stage, but Real Madrid star Arda Guler stepped up and again showed his promise as an integral cog in his national side.
The latter joined Kenan Yildiz in a young starting XI selected by Vincenzo Montella – marking the first time that two teenagers had ever started together during the knockout phase – but Turkey’s Italian coach now has more suspensions to deal with; furthermore, several players will walk the tightrope of being one booking from missing out on the semis.
First, though, they must make it past the Netherlands – who they met twice in qualifying for Qatar 2022, with both nations emerging triumphant on home turf – to reach the Euros’ final four for just a second time in Turkish football history.
Following a superb start in their exciting 3-1 win over Georgia, then dismal defeat to Portugal, and a late victory over the Czech Republic, Montella’s men came up with another thriller in Leipzig, so neutrals will expect to be entertained again this weekend.
Also read: England will play Switzerland in the quarter finals of Euro 2024
