Netherlands capitalised on two big England errors to win 3-1 after extra-time on Thursday and book their place in the UEFA Nations League final.
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England defeated Netherlands 1-0 in Ronald Koeman’s first match in charge of Oranje last year but since then the Dutch national team’s fortunes have changed and they booked their place in the Nations League semi-finals with wins over France and Germany. Koeman decided to stick with his preferred eleven meaning Donny van de Beek had to settle for a place on the bench as Marten de Roon partnered Georginio Wijnaldum and Frenkie de Jong in midfield.
Netherlands began confidently on the ball but struggled to create anything more than half chances. Steven Bergwijn put a shot wide, while Memphis Depay wasted a two-on-one break.
England looked dangerous through the lively Jadon Sancho, but the Dutch defence was largely untroubled until a huge error from Matthijs de Ligt in the 30th minute. The Ajax captain slipped in the penalty box which allowed Marcus Rashford to take the ball off him. De Ligt slid in but got the striker and not the ball. Rashford calmly sent Jasper Cillessen the wrong way to make it 1-0 from the spot.
Rashford had the chance to make it 2-0 shortly afterwards but this time Denzel Dumfries got in with a perfect challenge to deny the Manchester United forward. De Ligt then had a chance to equalise just before the break but he put a free header wide.
Early in the second half, Sancho had a great chance to make it 2-0 but his header from close range was kept out by Cillessen. Down the other end, Memphis stole the ball from Kyle Walker and raced in on goal but he decided to shoot early and Jordan Pickford kept the low effort out.
In the 68th minute, Koeman decided to make a double change with Donny van de Beek and Quincy Promes entering the field. Netherlands applied the pressure and in the 73rd minute, De Ligt made up for his error by heading in a corner to make it 1-1.
Moments later, Promes set up van de Beek but the Ajax midfielder could only scoop his effort over the bar. England then thought they had regained their lead when Jesse Lingard found the net but his goal was rightly ruled out by VAR. The video assistant also denied Netherlands a penalty after claims of a handball by Ben Chilwell. Replays showed the ball hit the defenders back.
England put the pressure on but Netherlands also got a big chance in extra-time. Bergwijn bustled his way into the box and pulled the ball back for Memphis, who skied his shot.
The game went to extra-time and in the 97th minute, Netherlands had the lead. Memphis latched onto a poor pass by John Stones but his low strike was kept out by Pickford only for Promes to fortunately hit the rebound off Walker and into the net.
Memphis then robbed Ross Barkley of the ball in the 114th minute and set up Promes to fire Netherlands 3-1 ahead and into the final.
On Sunday, Netherlands face Portugal with the Nations League trophy up for grabs. It could be Netherlands first tournament win since the European Championships in 1988.
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Disastrous performance by the Dutch. Depay was the worse player. Other than winning the ball from the England defender to shoot that lead to the second goal, he did absolutely nothing. Depay should’ve been taken off at half time and Babel should’ve moved to the center. De Roon had a good game, surprised to see him taken off without wijnaldum being taken off. wijnaldum did not do much during the game. Netherlands played very much like Man UTD did under Van Gaal. Not trying to attack, very slowly passing side ways and backwards.
Disastrous???? Were you referring to today’s game? While I agree with you that Memphis did not have his shooting boots on, I would wholeheartedly disagree with your evaluation
England went ahead and dropped back. Keep in mind the Dutch could not do anything but probe bait and pounce. Also, they don’t have the same powerful punch up front. This team is fun to watch and they will keep improving
Oranje for life!!
Wow. What match did you watch? Disastrous? Memphis’s pressing was key in both goals, and constantly got himself in good positions. His delivery on the equalizing corner was excellent.
Fact is he’s the best the Dutch have in the CF role. Good thing Koeman isn’t as nearly as fickle as you are, otherwise they’d have definitely lost.
This is how it is. You are right, koeman is doing exactly what he did with Southampton and Everton, Negative Possession. Memphis has one problem, and it is an ego thing. Someone needs to let him know that he is not Ronaldinho or Neymar and to KEEP IT SIMPLE because that is what is keeping him from being a world class player. Wynaldum, like Strootman are VERY OVERRATED and Van Der Beek should be allowed to continue his connection with De Jong that worked so well for Ajax. De Roon gave good protection to the defense although his not my kind of player. When he was taken off England OWNED THE MIDFIELD. I still feel Weghorst should be given a chance. If Babel and Strootman and Tete can be on the team, the omission of Weghorst is crazy. Portugal will win for two reasons. RONALDO. Two, Switzerland which has better goal scorers was just as wasteful as the Oranje and paid the price. Bergwyn is too inconsistent at this level. One last thing, Daley Blind,although in the past he was not a physical player, has developed into a SOLID PERFORMER which allows him to display HIS ALREADY EXCELLENT FOOTBALL BRAIN.
You sure you watched the same game? Maybe you’re not much for smart football. Our boys did great! They got the win and it’s not about how you get there it’s the end result. Also, Man U couldn’t play with van Gaal or Mourinho, they just expect Sir Alex now and they are not him, so bugger off with the Man U comparison.
“it’s not about how you get there it’s the end result”
That one idiotic sentence says a lot about your weak brains ability to understand the game. If the manager of San Marino or Norway used that kind of sentence I can understand. But to use that kind of sentence to talk about a team that goes into almost every major tournament as one of the favorites is unbelievably stupid.
1. Norway is about 20 leagues ahead of San Marino. Using Norway in the same sentence as San Marino to make the point you’re trying to make is, using your own words, unbelievably stupid.
2.It IS about the result. One of the biggest reasons Oranje has yet to lift the World Cup is that they have always been so worried about how they look, as opposed to doing what is necessary to win.
You’re the only one here who sees this semi-final win as a disastrous performance. If Oranje wins the trophy, will you be pleased at all, or will you criticize the squad just to get attention again?
Overall good performance. Midfield controlled the match for about 75 of the 90 minutes, De Jong was outstanding. They didn’t create as many chances as they should have, but not many teams can dominate possession against England.
Bergwijn is young and raw but caused quite a few problems. Just needs to get a bit stronger physically and work on his decision making in the final 3rd. Great potential for the future.
Not perfect and a little fortunate with the offside, but the upward trend started under Koeman is definitely continuing. Getting wins against Germany, France, England is no fluke on any day.
Take Memphis off at halftime, he doesn’t get two assists and Oranje probably don’t win. It never ceases to amaze me how some people can be so negative about a game the team won. The team needs support, not negativity that obviously goes beyond legitimate criticism.
Completely agree. While Memphis’ finishing was not up to snuff, he made up for it with effort on the defensive end and is one of the main reasons we came away with the win. I for one was really impressed that he didn’t let his lack of finishing impact other areas of play. I think that shows a lot of him. Good win.