When the Netherlands plays England in the Euro 2024 semifinals, Virgil van Dijk anticipates a “tough” encounter, but he is adamant that he and his teammates will “make our dream come true” by winning the tournament.
After defeating Turkey 2-1 in Berlin, Ronald Koeman’s team set up an exciting semifinal matchup with England.
Earlier in the day, a tight quarter-final match that finished 1-1 in Dusseldorf saw England upset Switzerland on penalties.
Van Dijk, captain of the Netherlands and Liverpool, commented on their comeback victory against Turkey and the possibility of playing England, saying: “You see how everyone reacts and works together.”
‘We did everything we could, with tackles and saves. Now it’s time to recover and prepare for another tough match [against England on Wednesday].
‘We did everything we could to reach the semi-finals. Now it’s time to recover and prepare for another tough match. We can get to work. We all want to make our dream come true. We are one step closer.’
Koeman, meanwhile, said of the threat of England: ‘They have good players but so do we.
‘We are in the semi-finals of the European Championship – nobody expected that. If all goes well, we will play two more games.
‘It will be a great night on Wednesday between two big nations – a historic night,.
‘If we play in the final, my preference is Spain because we had France in the group. But first we must prepare in the best way to play a good semi-final.’
Ex-Manchester United striker Wout Weghorst added: ‘It will be a wonderful game. England semi-final, I cannot wait. I wish it was tomorrow.’
The Netherlands only progressed to the knockout stages of the Euros as one of the best third-place teams after taking four points from Group D.
They brushed aside Slovakia in the last-16 but fell behind to Turkey, Samet Akaydin heading his side in front ten minutes before half time.
The Netherlands equalised through Stefan de Vrij’s 70th-minute header and went ahead themselves six minutes later as Turkey’s Mert Muldur turned into his own net.
Turkey knocked on the door as the searched for an equalised but their impressive run in Germany was ended as the Dutch advanced to the final four.
‘It was a great performance,’ Koeman added. ‘We started well.
After the initial phase, they became more adept at guarding the areas. We had to play around them, but we continued as before.
Then they had the upper hand and began to [get momentum]. It’s something unique for the entire country. We are a little country competing against England, France, and Spain in the semifinals.
We are quite pleased. It was a difficult night for us, but these games are never simple. They gave it their all. We had a huge heart, and it was an emotional match. We occasionally receive criticism for lacking something in comparison to other countries.
A strong second half was had. Even though we had to endure hardship, being able to participate in a semi-final is a huge accomplishment.