England are looking to reach the final of Euro 2024, but face a nerve-shredding semi-final test against the Netherlands in Dortmund – get the full lowdown on the Three Lions’ opponents below…
Marc Guéhi is available once again after his suspension saw him miss the quarter-final, and is likely to slot back into defence – although it could be in a back four or a back three, after Gareth Southgate changed to the latter to face Switzerland.
Ebere Eze has been making an impact from the bench and did so once again to help book the semi-final slot, while Adam Wharton could make his first appearance of the tournament from the bench.
England’s were beaten in their last meeting with the Netherlands, losing in the Nations League semi-final 3-1 after Marcus Rashford had given them the lead. An international friendly win in 2018 is the Three Lions’ only victory in the last nine meetings between the two.
All the talk this week, however, will be of a glorious day at Wembley in 1996, when England – and Gareth Southgate – took the Oranje apart, with Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham scoring two apiece.
England XI: Seaman (GK), G. Neville, Adams, Southgate, Pearce, Aderton, Gascoigne, Ince (Platt, 67), McManaman, Shearer (Fowler, 76), Sheringham (Barmby, 76).
Subs not used: Flowers (GK), Walker (GK), Campbell, P. Neville, Stone, Ferdinand.
The Netherlands have made it to the semi-final the hard way, finishing third in a difficult group behind Austria and France. They came close to beating Kylian Mbappe and co., only to see what they thought would be the winner chalked off by VAR.
A knockout round tie with England looked a certainty, before Georgia’s unlikely victory over Portugal shifted them to a different section of the draw and saw them knock out Romania to reach the quarter-finals.
Against Turkey, they fell behind early on but managed to force a comeback to finally book their place in the semi-finals and against England.
Many eventual champions have slow starts, with the Netherlands getting into the groove at just the right time and looking to emulate Portugal’s Euro 2016 winning side, which finished third in the group stage only to lift the trophy against the odds.
Virgil van Dijk captains the Netherlands and continues to lead from the back, with extraordinary depth in the position alongside Inter Milan’s Stefan de Vrij – who has been favoured to start – Bayern Munich’s Matthijs de Ligt, Manchester City’s Nathan Ake and Tottenham Hotspur’s Micky van de Ven.
In attack, Memphis Depay and Xavi Simons are a threat for any defence, while Wout Weghorst continues to be a real asset in changing the game, coming on against Turkey and making a real impact.
There are notable absences, however, none more so than Frenkie De Jong, who missed the tournament through injury.
Ronald Koeman
A legend of Dutch football, Koeman is in his second spell in charge of the national side after missing Euro 2020 to take the Barcelona job – the club he won the Champions League with in 1992 as part of Johan Cruyff’s ‘Dream Team’, scoring the winner in the final.
He won the Euros in 1988, starting the final in which Marco van Basten scored his famous volley – can he take the Netherlands back to the title this time around?
