Euro 2020: Czech Republic pull off upset against Netherlands

Euro 2020: Czech Republic stun the Netherlands

The first surprise result of Euro 2020 arrived early with the Czech Republic’s 2-0 over Netherlands.

After a rather uneventful first half, the turning point of the match came midway through the second.

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Donyell Malen had an excellent opportunity to open the score for the Dutch as he found himself one-on-one against the Czech keeper. But his effort was denied by Tomáš Vaclík. Just a few moments later, Matthijs de Ligt was shown a red card after a handball that impeded Patrik Schick to get through on goal.

Netherlands never looked the same following the red card. Missing a chance to go ahead only made matters worse.

The Czech Republic took advantage of the extra player and opened the score in the 68th minute thanks to Tomáš Holeš and some poor Dutch defending.

Down a goal, Netherlands looked toothless going up front with Memphis Depay not getting much in terms of service and Depay himself misplacing a number of passes. Schick put an end to the game when he scored the Czech’s second with ten minutes to go.

Netherlands seemed stunned and resigned to their fate.

"“I am responsible and I need to look in the mirror, manager Frank de Boer said. “It wasn’t our best game, that is clear, but it wasn’t that we didn’t dominate. In the second half we had control of the game and created two opportunities but at the top level of sport details decide the game and in one minute a player slipped and our whole world turned upside down.”Source: The Guardian"

Despite what De Boer said, the Dutch did not dominate the game. They barely edged out Czech Republic in terms of possession, 52 percent to 48 percent, and while they had six shots, none were on target.

The Czech Republic were good for their win and deserved to go through to the quarterfinals. They will face off against Denmark with the belief that they can get past them and be one of the four teams in the semifinal.