Netherlands vs Turkey live updates: Euro 2024 latest team news ...
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The Netherlands look to be building momentum at exactly the right time.
Their 3-0 victory over Romania was notable for their dominance, but the contrasting approach in wide areas is of most interest.
Cody Gakpo grabbed the headlines, scoring his third goal of the tournament — making him joint-top goalscorer — and assisting Donyell Malen. Looking back, all seven of Netherlands’ goals have come from good work on the left, but it is their right side where they channel their attack most frequently.
This is shown neatly in their pass network above, in which a lopsided attack saw Steven Bergwijn start on the right. He would link with Memphis Depay and drift inside to pin the opposition full-back, allowing Denzel Dumfries to maraud forward.
It has been a theme, with 41 per cent of the Netherlands’ attacking touches coming down the right flank as they look to create overloads.
While Gakpo has been a staple of the side on the left, Ronald Koeman has rotated the right side of attack in every game. He has picked Xavi Simons, Jeremie Frimpong, Malen and Bergwijn as he works out his best formula.
The tendency to isolate Gakpo one-on-one against the opposition full-back has proven lucrative on multiple occasions.
A Turkish fan march has been stopped by German police with supporters being told to immediately make their own way to today’s game.
Berlin police have said on X (formerly known as Twitter) that fans had been making the same nationalistic hand gesture that saw Merih Demiral hit with a two-game suspension. More on that below.
The gesture was “massively shown” the police said in a statement.
“When a lot of people are doing this gesture, it becomes a political demonstration and a football march is not a political demonstration,” police spokesperson Valeska Jakubowski added in an interview with The Associated Press.
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Demiral’s ‘wolf’ gesture and Turkish football’s complicated relationship with Erdogan
This is a historic day for Turkey. It is the first time they will play in a major tournament quarter-final match since 2008.
In total it is just the fourth time they have made the last eight, after Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea and Euro 2008.
The Netherlands supporters are enjoying themselves ahead of the game...
Defender Merih Demiral scored an unlikely double as Turkey beat Austria 2-1 in a game of the tournament contender.
Austria were stunned when Demiral scored the quickest knockout-stage goal in European Championship history after 57 seconds. The Al-Ahli centre-back doubled Turkey’s lead just before the hour mark.
Austria poured forward late on and pulled one back when substitute Michael Gregoritsch turned the ball home at the far post. They then came close to leveling in the final seconds, only for goalkeeper Mert Gunok to keep out Christoph Baumgartner’s point-blank header.
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Austria 1 Turkey 2: Missiles fall, records tumble – and the save of the tournament?
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Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo scored his third goal of Euro 2024 before substitute Donyell Malen netted twice in a 3-0 win over Romania, to send the Netherlands into the quarter-finals of this tournament for the first time in 16 years.
Romania started brightly but Netherlands scored first when Gakpo drilled a low shot home at the near post. The Netherlands missed a number of chances to double their lead before Malen came off the bench to score twice.
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Only one man has scored more goals than Cody Gakpo (6) across the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024 — and that’s Kylian Mbappe (9).
Gakpo is tied in the race for the Euro 2024 golden boot, with three goals, while all six of his efforts at the last two major tournaments have come in different matches.
That means there are now only three Dutch players to score in more different games at major tournaments — Dennis Bergkamp (10), Robin van Persie (8), and Wesley Sneijder (7).
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Arrived at the famous Olympiastadion in Berlin for this quarter-final. Two great supporter match-ups - a riot of orange versus a river of red.
Taking the subway to the game, there was an audible gasp when the scale of Turkey’s march to the stadium became clear - this stretched on for hundreds of metres. No idea how they’re all getting in mind.
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Netherlands have been here before and know how to progress. Indeed, they have got through five of their last seven major tournament quarter-finals — although they didn’t make it through their previous one, losing on penalties to eventual 2022 World Cup winners, Argentina.
As for the European Championship, this is the Dutch’s first quarter-final since Euro 2008, when they lost 3-1 to Russia.
In fact, Netherlands have only progressed from three of their last nine knockout ties at a Euros.
The only other time they have made it through two knockout ties in a single European Championship was 1988, in Germany — and they went on to win it.
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Here we go then. Another meeting between Netherlands and Turkey; the 15th in international football. So far we’ve had:
Netherlands wins: 6Turkey wins: 4 Draws: 4That said, this is the first time the pair has met in a major tournament.
The previous two matches have brought 13 goals. Turkey won 4-2 in March 2021, with Netherlands winning 6-1 in September 2021 — both taking place in 2022 World Cup qualifying.
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Come the end of the round of 16, we were 86 per cent through Euro 2024 and yet our collective memories of this tournament are only just beginning to be formed.
The moments that will linger longest are far more likely to occur at the end of the knockout stage.
That is exciting… But what of the 44 games that went before, and the performances that decorated them?
We at The Athletic think it’s important to acknowledge the players who lit up the early stages of the tournament — so let us take you through our best XI made up of players who excelled, but also missed out on a place in the quarter-finals.
And if you think we’ve missed someone, set it straight by telling us in an email to: [email protected]
Still, this was no mean feat and brilliantly delivered by our own Jacob Whitehead. Enjoy!
GO FURTHER
From Lobotka to Kvaratskhelia: A best XI of players already eliminated from Euro 2024
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While Netherlands vs Turkey here in Berlin completes the four Euro 2024 quarter-finals, the third tie takes place in the coming hours — kicking off in 30 minutes in Dusseldorf, in fact.
It’s a stuttering but defensively solid England against a free-flowing Switzerland, who accounted for the exit of defending champions Italy in the round of 16.
The winner of this one will await either Netherlands or Turkey in the semi-finals, on Wednesday in Dortmund.
It promises to be a captivating occasion today, and you’ll be able to follow all the action in Dusseldorf closely, right here.
Turkey’s supporters have raucously followed their team around Germany and helped get their team over the line against Austria.
On Friday, Ronald Koeman was unsurprisingly grilled about their impact and the Netherlands boss said his side would attempt to keep things “business-like”:
???? “I’ve got some experience against Turkish teams, the atmosphere is always great. We just need to keep the ball and they will become quiet. You need to be cool, business-like and play your game.”
Netherlands are sweating over the fitness of defender Nathan Ake. Ronald Koeman said on Friday:
???? “We will wait to see how he feels tomorrow.”
The Dutch do not have any suspension to worry about but Denzel Dumfries, Joey Veerman, Jerdy Schouten and Donyell Malen are all in danger of missing the semi-finals with a booking today.
The good news for Turkey is that Hakan Calhanoglu returns after a suspension. The bad news is that midfielders Orkun Kokcu and Ismail Yuksek — as well as Merih Demiral — are all suspended.
A number of Turkey players are walking a disciplinary tightrope today — including Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz. In total eight players are in danger of missing the next match if booked.
The build-up to today’s game has been rather overshadowed by a growing diplomatic row over a controversial, apparent hand gesture made by Merih Demiral in Turkey’s win over Austria.
On Friday, Demiral was handed a two-game suspension by UEFA after appearing to make an ultranationalist salute while celebrating his second goal in Tuesday’s Euro 2024 last-16 match.
The 26-year-old celebrated his second goal in the game by making the “wolf salute” — a gesture associated with the far-right extremist group Grey Wolves, who are linked to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Turkey’s ruling coalition party.
The gesture, made after the second goal, is not illegal in Germany but it is in Austria, where it is punishable with a fine of up to €4,000 (£3,400; $4,300). The Turkish nationalist hand signal is also banned in France.