Netherlands back on top with win over England in Nations League semifinal
Perhaps an entirely new tournament had to be invented in order for the Netherlands to finally win another international trophy.
Oranje has lost all three of the World Cup finals it has played in, in 1974, 1978 and 2010, and was stranded in the semifinals in 1998 and 2014. For all the great teams the Dutch have produced, for all the superstars to come out of a nation with a population no bigger than the greater New York City area, the only real silverware it has to show for it is the 1988 European Championship.
But in the inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League, a nine-month tournament that’s muscled out the raft of friendlies national teams used to play, and which has produced a stunning number of exciting games, the Netherlands will finally have a chance at a second trophy.
On Thursday, the Dutch beat England 3-1 in extra-time. Hosts Portugal — who haven’t won anything since, um, well, Euro 2016 — await in Sunday’s final. The loss compounded the misery for England, which hasn’t won anything since the 1966 World Cup, the summer after it was upset by Croatia in the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup, slowing somewhat the rise of a promising and exciting young team.
In the teeming rain in Guimaraes, Portugal — where some England fans had behaved badly again the night before the game, singing songs about Germany and World War II, the IRA and the Pope, throwing bottles and scuffling with police — an enthralling game broke out that was decided by bad defensive errors.
The Dutch controlled most of the game, unsettling England with their high press and their unrepentant pursuit of possession. But the attack mostly sputtered with Memphis Depay, playing as a kind of roving striker, misfiring all night. The English had a savvy game plan, understanding full well that they would have less of the ball. They built impregnable banks that Oranje found precious few routes through and deployed a squadron of quick forwards to chase down counter-attacks.
And it was England that would score first after half an hour. Entirely against the run of play, 19-year-old defender Matthijs de Ligt, coveted by every major club in Europe, was hounded into taking a bad touch by Marcus Rashford. Rashford pounced and de Ligt cut him down in his own box in an effort to make amends.
Rashford converted his own penalty.
England adjusted tactically and managed to connect a few more passes after half-time, reducing the pressure. Yet if the Dutch remained dominant, the English had the better of the chances. Nonetheless, de Ligt redeemed himself in the 73rd minute, when the teenager beat two men to the corner kick and smashed his header past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to equalize.
England was denied a splendid goal in the 83rd minute by the Video Assistant Referee, when Jesse Lingard must have been offside by a hair. And in injury time, Raheem Sterling went close as well.
But the Dutch scored twice in extra-time for a deserved victory. In the 97th minute, John Stones dawdled on the ball near his own goal. Memphis stripped it but was denied well by Pickford. Quincy Promes, however, got the first toe on the rebound and the ball took an unfortunate deflection off Kyle Walker, skipping into the net.
Things got worse when Ross Barkley committed a bad turnover to Memphis, who squared simply to Promes for the third goal.
And so one resurgent national team knocked out another. But for the surprises these scintillating young English players have delivered over the last year, the rise of this Dutch team is more stunning still.
After that third place at the 2014 World Cup, Oranje simply collapsed, failing to even qualify for both Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. The team’s gilded attacking trident of Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder — all three of whom were one of the five best players in the world at one time or another during their respective primes — had aged out and there appeared to be no viable successors in sight.
This was going to be a long and painful downturn for the Dutch. But then something unexpected happened. Virgil van Dijk transformed into the best central defender in the world, winning the Champions League with Liverpool this year and putting himself in the conversation for the Ballon d’Or. Memphis rediscovered himself with Olympique Lyon after a disastrous spell at Manchester United. A generation of Ajax academy graduates in de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong and Donny van de Beek took Europe by storm, coming within seconds of facing van Dijk in that final. And enough spare parts were found to fill out the team, while manager Ronald Koeman worked out how to make it all fit.
They won their Nations League group against prohibitive odds, playing attractive soccer that’s capitalized on the generational gifts of its Ajax prodigies.
Now, just as unexpectedly as the Dutch had withered, they are reborn. And playing for a real prize.
Leander Schaerlaeckens is a Yahoo Sports soccer columnist and a sports communication lecturer at Marist College. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.
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