Yes, it’s great to dominate the group stages, but have you ever tried advancing in the knockout round?That’s the lesson the Czechs have adopted, unlike the Dutch, who were splendid in the maiden fixtures but are leaving the EURO 2020 after a disappointing 2-0 loss to the Czech Republic in the 1/8 finals.The Netherlands has played 89 games at the EURO and World Cup combined.Today’s game is the only one in which it failed to record a shot on target 😱 pic.twitter.com/GpJXUVMoY1— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 27, 2021 An awful, nervous game provided us with barely any praiseworthy moves, but for the underdogs, it couldn’t get better than that. They stopped Frenk De Boer outfit in the first half, patiently waited for their chances and then finished them when the opportunity, finally, arose.It was De Light’s red card a few minutes into the second half that changed the game’s balance, Wijnaldum and Depay were deplorable, and De Jong simply couldn’t organise the 10-man side.4 – Netherlands have been shown four red cards at the EUROs, with two coming against Czechoslovakia (both in 1976) and two against Czech Republic (2004, 2020). Spooky. #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/247Qyj4n2F— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 27, 2021 On the other end, with more firepower on the pitch, the Czechs were eager to kill the game as soon as possible and did that with Holes’ and Schick’s goals in the penultimate phase of the game. An ill-disciplined Dutch defence failed to prevent them from scoring.
The winner will face Denmark in a very unexpected 1/4 final tie, with both teams looking forward to seeing this kind of outcome that gives them equal chances of reaching the semifinals.