EURO 2024 Preview: Can the Netherlands repeat their historic 1988 triumph?
The road to the Championship
The Dutch were in a relatively tough qualifying group, in which they were paired with France, among others, as they were in the group stage. The Dutch lost both matches to the World Cup finalist, but managed to win the other six matches, qualifying as the second-placed team from the pool for the European Championship.
Overall, the Netherlands has been in good form in recent months. Although they lost 2-1 in a friendly against Germany in March, they have won all six of their last seven matches without conceding a goal. In the last four wins, the difference with the opponent was also at least four goals: 6-0 against Gibraltar, 4-0 against Scotland, 4-0 against Canada and 4-0 against Iceland.
The European Championships gets underway for the Netherlands on Sunday, when it takes on Poland, where star striker Robert Lewandowski is missing, according to the latest reports. The Netherlands then take on the French before meeting Austria in the final round of the group stage.
Koeman
Ronald Koeman is in his second spell as coach of Oranje and his time as national coach has been mainly characterised by four players: captain Virgil van Dijk, Frenkie de Jong, Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay. All four internationals were also among the final selection, but De Jong had to miss the European Championship with an injury.
In total, Koeman was in front of the group for 34 games and Van Dijk is the player who got to represent the Orange Lions most often in that period. The Liverpool defender played 31 international matches under his former coach at Southampton, conceding seven goals in that time. Not bad figures for a central defender.
Memphis has been Oranje's attacking leader for years and could even become the all-time top scorer this summer if the European Championships are exceptionally good. The striker who will leave Atletico Madrid for free now stands at 45 international goals, five less than record holder Robin van Persie. Memphis scored as many as 13 of those goals in the 24 international games he played under Koeman. Georginio Wijnaldum also refuted excellent figures with 12 goals in 24 games with Koeman as national coach, but there does not seem to be a starting place for him in Germany anymore.
Battered midfield
De Jong had to depart the squad at the last minute due to injury, which is a big loss for the team. Especially as Marten de Roon was also injured earlier and his Atalanta teammate Teun Koopmeiners dropped out in the warm-up on Monday. Koopmeiners must also miss out on the final tournament, which led to PSV tandem Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman being reunited in midfield on Monday.
Veerman said he was annoyed that with De Jong ''the best player in Oranje'' had been dropped, but he in particular seems to be able to count on a starting place due to his absence. Many people doubt whether Veerman has the speed to stand out at the very highest level, but that his passing can be a great weapon was proved again on Monday in the friendly against Canada. Veerman then set up the most chances (6) of any player on the pitch. That is no exception for him, as last season he also created the most chances in Europe's biggest six leagues (130).
Expected lineup
Looking at the recent past, there are two final tournaments that stick out the most: the 2010 World Cup, in which the Netherlands reached the final, and the 2014 World Cup, in which the Netherlands finished in third place. Back then, the Netherlands had absolute world-class offensive players like Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie and the rearguard was the Achilles' heel.
That is now totally no longer the case. In fact, we can say that with Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Aké, Matthijs de Ligt, Micky van de Ven and Stefan de Vrij at the centre back, Orange is the best represented. The doubts were currently more about the spot under the crossbar, for example. Koeman gives confidence to 21-year-old Bart Verbruggen to show what he is worth.
Van Dijk and De Vrij seem to be preferred at centre-back, while Nathan Aké may fill the left-back position as is often the case at Manchester City. At right-back, Denzel Dumfries is expected, who often rises above himself in internationals. Schouten and Veerman are expected at midfield after a very successful season with PSV and its many injuries, along with Tijjani Reijnders, who in turn had a good debut season at AC Milan.
Memphis is the intended centre striker for the starting line-up and, from the left flank, Cody Gakpo will most likely start. On the right flank, the choice currently seems to be Xavi Simons, although Jeremie Frimpong is also knocking on the door for a starting place.
If Koeman does opt for Frimpong or brings him on later, there is a chance that this will be accompanied by a change of Dumfries for Lutsharel Geertruida. After all, Frimpong and Dumfries both need the space on the flank to come into their own and could thus get in each other's way. Instead, Geertruida has a habit at Feyenoord of cutting inside and supporting the midfield, making his style seem more complementary to Frimpong.
Champions League finalist Donyell Malen is also in good form and will also get plenty of chances as a substitute to demonstrate his qualities. The same goes for Van de Ven, the central defender who broke the speed record in the Premier League this year. With Van de Ven, Frimpong and Malen, among others, Koeman has some of the fastest players in the tournament.
In both the Netherlands and Germany, hardly anyone understood how Ian Maatsen had not survived the final selection into the squad, but due to De Jong's injury, he was included in the squad anyway. The same goes for Joshua Zirkzee, after Brian Brobbey was injured in training this week.