First In 13 Years, Netherlands Qualify For Round Of 16 Euro

Netherlands National Team (Twitter @euro2020)

JAKARTA - Memphis Depay and Denzel Dumfries led the Netherlands to the last 16 of Euro 2020 after scoring one goal each in two different rounds as Orange beat Austria 2-0 in their Group C match at the Johann Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, Friday morning western Indonesia time.

For the first time in 13 years, the Netherlands have qualified for the last 16 of the Euros after being knocked out at the group stage of Euro 2012 and not qualifying for the finals in the 2016 edition of the tournament.

The Netherlands has also always won in their last 21 matches when they scored the first goal. Now the Netherlands has scored 67 goals and conceded only seven goals in their last 21 matches.

As reported by Antara, since the kickoff, the Dutch continued to press until the end of the second half, but the goal was created in the 11th minute following a challenge from defender David Alaba against Dutch right-back Denzel Dumfries.

At first, this violation was ignored by the referee until there was a second foul on another Dutch player which temporarily stopped the match. After this, the referee stopped the match to review the potential penalty for the Netherlands through VAR analysis.

VAR then confirmed it was a penalty and Alaba was shown a yellow card, the Netherlands then assigned Depay to take this penalty.

Even though Austrian goalkeeper Daniel Bachman had the right to move towards the ball, but Depay's shot was too fast for him to stop. Depay, as well as Georginio Wijnaldum, have now scored 50 goals for the Dutch national team.

After this goal the Dutch continued to push into the Austrian defense, moreover, their midfielders found it difficult to stop playmaker Frenkie de Jong from operating and dominating the midfield.

Depay came close to doubling the score in the 24th minute after confusing the Austrian defense following a throw-in. Depay managed to outwit Alaba and Aleksandar Dragovic but he volleyed wide into the Austrian goal.

In the 35th minute, Austria also almost scored when Hinteregger fired from outside the penalty box but bounced over the goal of Marteen Stekelenburg.

Five minutes later Depay wasted another chance to double when he latched on to a diagonal pass from Wout Weghorst inside the Austrian penalty area.

Weghorst who could actually execute the opportunity himself was not selfish by handing the ball to Depay who got a better position. Unfortunately, he instead fired a shot past the goal when Bachmann certainly could not prevent it.

In the second half, the Dutch continued to press Austria, especially after the entry of Matthijs de Ligt, the Dutch defense became solid so that it was not easily disturbed by opponents like against Ukraine in the first match which conceded two goals.

In the 61st minute, Stefan De Vrij almost scored the Dutch's third goal through his header which Bachmann denied.

Two minutes later Austria brought on two players at once, Michael Gregoritsch was replaced by Sasa Kalajdzic, while Konrad Laimer made room for Florian Grillitsch's entry, aiming to equalize immediately.

The Netherlands responded to Austria's move a minute later with the aim of reinforcing both attack and defense when they introduced attacking duo Owen Wijndal and Donyell Malen for Patrick van Aanholt and Wout Weghorst, while defender Daley Blind was replaced by Nathan Ake.

Not long after, the entry of Malen and the increasingly solid defense that made the Dutch attack system more focused on work, awarding the Dutch second goal in the 67th minute.

Malen sprinted to meet a curled ball from midfield as the Austrians focused on pressing in the Dutch area.

Malen who had the opportunity to beat Daniel Bachman himself, did not want to be selfish, by sending the ball to Dumfries who was running on the other side. Dumfries easily slotted the ball into an unguarded net. He also scored the second goal for the Netherlands in this match and at the same time his second goal in Euro 2020.

In the 71st minute, Austria tried to reply through Sasa Kalajdzic, but his shot was blocked by a Dutch player. And the victory in sight saw coach Frank de Boer continue to try the rest of the players to feel the atmosphere of the Euros by bringing on young midfielder Ryan Gravenberch to replace Marten de Roon in the 74th minute.

While Austria continued to retaliate, including in the 81st minute when Alaba, looking like a North Macedonian turn into the sweeper, almost beat goalkeeper Marteen Stekelenburg but his shot went wide of goal.

Austria came close once again when Onisiwo met Kalajdzic's cross in the 84th minute but his header instead steered the ball over the Stekelenburg goal. Five minutes later, it was Kalajdzic's turn to make an Austrian goal chance useless.

🇳🇱 The Netherlands are through to the Round of 16 as group winners! 🎉🎉🎉#EURO2020

— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 17, 2021