JAKARTA - The Dutch national team will face the Czech Republic in the last 16 of Euro 2020. What are their chances of overcoming opponents on the gridiron? We still have to be patient waiting for the second match at the Puskas Arena in Hungary tonight.
Frank de Boer, who was booed for making Orange giddy after being left by Ronald Koeman, who chose to reform Barcelona rather than continue to coach the Dutch national team. Finally turned into the idol of football fans in this lowland country with a population of 17.28 million.
Former skeptics have become firmly convinced of the de Boer-era Orange after recording three convincing victories in the group stages of Euro 2020. However, they were met too soon with old foes, the Czech Republic, when the pair returned to play at the Puskas Arena in Hungary, Sunday night at 23:00. WIB.
The Netherlands top Group C with a perfect record having won all three of their matches at the Johan Cruyff Arena, fueling high expectations that they will achieve the highest success in this tournament.
However, the euphoria and high expectations must be managed by the Dutch so as not to make their squad not underestimate their opponent who stepped into the last 16 in the status of one of the four best third-placed teams.
Especially if the Euro 2016 qualifiers are the measure in which the actions of the Czechs made the Netherlands unable to set foot in the finals which were held in France after beating the Netherlands in both home and away matches.
The same thing happened in the 2004 finals when the Czech Republic won 3-2 after trailing by two goals in the group stage in Portugal.
Dutch captain Georginio Wijnaldum immediately dismissed the assumption that the Czech opponent was light. “Everyone has watched Germany against Hungary, right? We look at the Czech Republic as a top country and approach this game with that in mind," he said.
Czech record during the Euro itself is impressive. Since 1996 they have not only always qualified for the finals, but have also penetrated the group stage four times. They were runners-up in 1996, semi-finals in 2004 and last eight in 2012.
Czech Republic coach Jaroslav Silhavy was rewarded with a squad of energy that relentlessly fought back and patiently waited for opponents to lose the ball and then counterattack.
The real form of their death on the counter-attack is Patrik Schick who has so far scored three goals during Euro 2020, including a goal that started with a maneuver from the middle of the field against Scotland in the opener. But there was a moment when Silhavy resented his side's 1-0 loss to England at Wembley which was partly the result of his squad's poor finishing.
In contrast to the Netherlands, de Boer increasingly believes in the new attacking duo of Memphis Depay and Donyel Malen, at least as another option. Together with Wijnaldum and Frenkie de Jong who like to pierce from the middle of the field, they will be a constant threat to the Czechs. Not only that, the presence of another central defender Matthijs de Ligt makes the Orange defense increasingly difficult for opponents to penetrate. De Ligt can even replace Virgil van Dijk's role in making the Dutch play comfortable in other lines.
Game Prediction Prediction of the first eleven players:
Netherlands (3-4-1-2): Marteen Stekelenburg; Stefan de Vrij, Daley Blind, Matthijs de Ligt; Denzel Dumfries, Marteen de Roon, Frenkie de Jong, Patrick van Aanholt; Georginio Wijnaldum; Wout Weghorst, Memphis Depay
Czech Republic (4-2-3-1): Tomas Vaclik; Vladimir Coufal, Ondrej Celustka, Tomas Kalas, Jan Boril; Alex Kral, Tomas Soucek; Luke Masopust, Vladimir Darida, Jakub Jankto; Patrik Schick
Match scenario
During the final game of the group stage, Frank de Boer did not change the starting eleven too much, only Maarten de Roon he rested to give way for young Ryan Gravenberch to feel the atmosphere of a big tournament from the first seconds of the match.
De Boer is likely to field de Roon again as a starter given the vitality of this player in the second line of his squad. The Atalanta midfielder's ethos of playing, whose hardworking and defensive nature as well as his aggressive power make him strong, makes Frenkie de Jong and Georginio Wijnaldum more flexible in helping offensively into the opponent's defense area.
Wijnaldum himself became the core of the Dutch creative game. He will again play a vital role as a link between de Jong and two full-backs who love to crush opposition defenses from the wings, Denzel Dumfries and Patrick van Aanholt.
Given that main striker Memphis Depay often operates from the middle, the two full-backs are very important in making overlapping maneuvers from wide of the field. This made the opponent's defense less tight and finally allowed Wijnaldum and Depay to get more space in the last third of the field.
The question remains who will be Depay's duo at the end of the Dutch attack. Donyell Malen has impressed once in the last game, but Wout Weghorst has an advantage that Depay does not have.
The VfL Wolfsburg striker has a tall body so he is very useful when winning aerial duels and receiving top balls. Therefore Weghorst is Depay's ideal partner as it complements each other.
The centre-back trio of Daley Blind, Stefan de Vrij and Matthijs de Ligt, remained the doorstops in de Boer's 3-5-2 system again which may have started with a 3-4-1-2 with Marteen Stekelenburg on goal.
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic lost 0-1 in their last match against England, but coach Jaroslav Silhavy doesn't seem to be thinking about changing to a new 4-2-3-1 formation that is definitely defensive.
Tomas Kalas and Ondrej Celustka are a doorstop duo who know very well how to build a tight defense at the back. In terms of attacking initiative, the Czechs will rely on two full-backs Vladimir Coufal and Jan Boril who like most Euro 2020 teams always rely on the wings when launching attacks.
But the frequent prevalence of Dutch attack units in the third half of the field could force Silhavy to instruct his two central midfielders Tomas Holes and Tomas Soucek or one of them to operate further back to help the defence.
But it is likely that the task will be left to Holes, rather than Soucek, who has been very effective in pushing forward. But it could also be Alex Kral because this midfielder is much more experienced as a back-up for central defenders.
If Kral is installed then playmaker Vladimir Darida will operate deeper along with Soucek. Against Orange who is aggressive and tends to dictate the game, the Czechs can't help but rely on counterattacks.
Luckily in Silhavy's counter-attack scheme, he has fast forward players, ranging from Lukas Masopust, Jakub Jankto, to top scorer Patrik Schick.
Netherlands and Czech Team Statistics
The Netherlands who won the group with perfect scores and the Czechs who qualified as one of the four best third-placed teams met in the knockout stages for the first time when the Puskas Arena hosted their third round of 16 match at Euro 2020.
The winner of this match will face Wales or Denmark in the quarter-finals in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 3 July.
The Czechs have drawn Netherlands three times and won five of their previous 11 meetings with Orange, including the last two in Euro 2020 qualifiers when Dutch defender Stefan de Vrij scored in Orange's 3-2 defeat to then miss out on that year's Euro finals.
The Netherlands have participated in nine previous Euro finals, but failed to appear in 2016 and 1984. The Netherlands won Europe in 1988, then finished third at Euro 1976, and were three-time semifinalists at Euro 1992, 2000 and 2004.
The Czechs have always entered the Euro finals since Czechoslovakia split into Czechoslovakia and Slovakia in 1993. While still part of Czechoslovakia, they won the 1976 European Cup and were then finalists when they first appeared as the Czech Republic in 1996. They have also been semifinalists in 2004 and quarter-finalists eight. years later. This was reported by Antara.
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