Winning In The Last Minute Against Greece, Netherlands Opens Up Hope To Germany

Captain VIrgil van Dijk led the Netherlands to win over Greece in the Euro 2024 qualifiers. (Twitter @OnsOranje)

JAKARTA - Dramatic victory. The Netherlands had to work hard and needed a penalty in the last minute to beat Greece 1-0 in the Euro 2024 qualifying Group B match at the OPAP Arena Stadium, Tuesday, 17 October WIB. This result gave the Netherlands hope to qualify for Germany even though they were still competing with Greece.

The Netherlands could finally breathe a sigh of relief. How could it not be, the Netherlands reaped disappointing results in the previous match when they were defeated by France 2-1 at home.

This defeat meant that the Netherlands had to compete with Greece to win tickets to the final round.

The reason is, it was the Netherlands who helped France qualify for Germany. The victory over the Netherlands means that France is at the top of the standings, collecting 18 points.

The team in third place couldn't catch up with their points tally, so Les Bleus secured a ticket to the final round.

After one ticket to Germany belonged to France, now the Netherlands and Greece are competing to get another ticket. The match between Greece and the Netherlands was actually a decisive part for both teams.

The Netherlands then succeeded in taking advantage of the opportunity by winning the match at home to their opponent. These results made the Euro 1988 champions move up to second place with 12 points. The same as Greece, but the Netherlands is ahead on goal difference.

Apart from that, the Netherlands has a slight advantage because they have two remaining matches. Meanwhile, Greece only finished one last match against France. This makes the Netherlands more likely to qualify.

In that duel, the Netherlands had difficulty facing Greece. However, Ronald Koeman's team had a chance to take the lead after receiving a penalty in the 28th minute.

However, former Manchester United loan striker Wout Weghorst failed to complete the penalty. The score remained 0-0 until the first half ended.

In the second half, the Netherlands did not reduce the tempo of the game. However, both teams had difficulty scoring goals. Attacks that endanger the opponent's goal can never be converted into goals.

The Netherlands' long wait finally ended after being awarded another penalty in injury time or 90+3 minutes.

This time, Weghorst was not the executor. Captain Virgil van Dijk did it. This Liverpool defender completed the execution well.

This was the only goal scored. The Netherlands also closed the match with a 1-0 win.