2024-07-12 14:24:36
The last time the Netherlands played in the Euro final was in 1988. Ruud Gullit and Ronald Koeman won the championship after defeating the Soviet Union of Serbia. After 36 years, the Netherlands is in front of the Euro final again. This time Koeman is in the role of coach of the team. And Dipay, Fon Dyke and Cody Gakpora are giving him the finals dream once again.
However, after three years, they have to overcome England’s hurdles to reach the finals of Europe’s best competition. Who have played in the semi-finals in three of the last four World Cups and Euros. They even played in the finals of the last Euros. Now they have a chance to reach back-to-back finals. And if they reach the final, Gareth Southgate’s disciples will get a chance to turn their 58-year wait to win a major title.
However, both England and the Netherlands could not perform well in the group stage. Even they could not satisfy their supporters. The Netherlands beat Romania 3-0 in the last sixteen to reach the quarter-finals. After 20 years, they went on to win 2-1 with an own goal against Turkey to reach the semi-finals.
On the other hand, England reached the last eight with a hard-fought victory over Slovakia in the last sixteen match. And there came back-to-back semifinals with a 5-3 tiebreaker win over Switzerland. Now they have a chance to reach back-to-back finals.
Against the Netherlands, however, England have not had many encounters in the Euros. It happened once in 1996. The English beat the Dutch 4-1 in that match. After that, the two teams never met again on the big stage. For a long time, the last laugh is about seeing who laughs next.