Key events
21 min: It’s Yılmaz up the other end now, chasing after a long ball down the right. He’s got no right to keep the ball in play, but somehow manages it. The ball’s eventually pulled back for Çalhanoğlu, whose fierce shot slaps Van Dijk flush in the grid, before deflecting out for a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece. A nice open game, this.
19 min: Gakpo goes down again, on a dribble along the left touchline; once more he doesn’t get the decision. Yılmaz might have had a little nibble at him there.
18 min: Akaydin survives. The match restarts and Gakpo embarks on a stunning dribble down the middle. Stunning until he loses control of his legs, Bambi style, that is, and eventually falls over. A shame, because something exceptional was threatening to unfold. He might have been nicked on the heel earlier in the run, to be fair.
16 min: Simons dinks a ball down the inside-left channel to release Gakpo, who is offside and also accidentally high-kicks Akaydin before landing on him. That’s an unfortunate double whammy for the defender, and he requires some treatment.
14 min: … so having just typed that, Netherlands hog the football for a bit, taking the sting out of the game.
12 min: Now it’s Simons’ turn to lash a long-distance effort over. This match has started in the hectic free-jazz manner we expected.
11 min: Özcan has a dig from distance. Over the bar. Netherlands go up the other end, Dumfries crossing from the right, a misfire that nearly foxes Günok, heading for the top left and only just clearing the bar.
10 min: Another long Turkey ball. Yılmaz and De Vrij battle under it. The pair fall over. Turkey want a free kick … and a possible red card for De Vrij? … but the referee waves play on. Nowt more than a 50-50 tussle? Well, De Vrij had a handful of his opponent’s shirt and seemed to tip him over. You’ve seen decisions given for much less.
9 min: Çalhanoğlu is down having taken an accidental whack on the heel from Simons. He looks in a lot of pain, but thankfully it seems to be just the sting of initial impact, because quickly enough he gets back up again.
7 min: Dumfries crosses low from the right. Depay attempts to spin and shoot, ten yards out, but can’t get an effort off. The ball breaks to Gakpo on the left; he squirts a weak shot across goal and out for a goal kick, then the flag goes up for offside anyway.
6 min: Turkey have settled a bit now. They’re looking to hit Yılmaz and Güler with long passes. Meat and drink for Van Dijk and Aké for now.
4 min: This is the first time Netherlands and Turkey have ever met at a finals. The Dutch are dominating the early stages, and the whistles from the Turkish fans are ear-splitting. Finally Turkey get hold of the ball and Kadıoğlu probes down the left but there’s nowhere to go.
2 min: Well what a start that would have been. Depay should have forced Günok into a save at the very least. Space had opened up for him.
59 sec: … and one second later, Depay dribbles in from the right and into the box before leaning back and launching a rocket vertically. Miles over the bar. A great chance to give Netherlands a very early lead.
58 sec: Netherlands have already held out longer than Austria did in the last round …
Netherlands get the ball rolling. The Olympiastadion is rocking. “They also suffer who sit and wait (and watch the appallingly tedious quarter-finals so far),” begins a jaded Charles Antaki. “If there’s any justice in the football world, then this will be a rip-roarer of a game, with goals, near-misses, diving headers, 60-metre dribbles and a fist-fight in the dugout. But since there actually isn’t any justice in the football world, it’ll be another 1-1 going to penalties. Pshaw.”
The teams take to the pitch. The Netherlands in oranje, Turkey in white. Everyone looks lovely. Coins will be tossed, pennants swapped, fists bumped, and songs sung of William of Nassau and coy crescents. Once all that’s taken care of, it’ll be football all the way. Soccer!
The winner of this tie will play England at the Westfalenstadion in the second semi-final on Wednesday. Barry Glendenning has the story of their dramatic win on penalties over Switzerland.
Style guide:
GEORGE: What is Holland?
JERRY: What do you mean, ‘what is it?’ It’s a country right next to Belgium.
GEORGE: No, that’s the Netherlands.
JERRY: Holland is the Netherlands.
GEORGE: Then who are the Dutch?
For once George is right: according to the official Guardian style guide, “Holland should not be used to mean the Netherlands (of which it is a region)”. But then you knew that already, and can see straight through my transparent ruse to crowbar in this classic Monk’s Café-infused back-and-forth.
As for Türkiye, Turkey is still Guardian style, so that’s why this MBM will go with that.
Turkey: co-hosts, for all intents and purposes. It’s fair to say the Turkish diaspora in Germany have made their mark at this tournament, and tonight in Berlin is no exception …
… though to be fair to the Dutch, who are hoping to win their second European Championship on German soil after Euro 88, their representation isn’t too shabby either. There’ll be a party atmosphere one way or another tonight.
The historical head-to-head between these two countries doesn’t tell us much. The Netherlands have six wins to Turkey’s four, so it’s been pretty balanced over the long haul. The teams recently met during qualification for the 2022 World Cup, but that hardly splits them either: Burak Yılmaz was the hat-trick hero as Turkey won 4-2 in Istanbul, while Memphis Depay scored three as the Netherlands ran out 6-1 winners in Amsterdam. So good luck predicting which way tonight’s match will go with supreme confidence.
The Netherlands name an unchanged starting XI after their comfortable win over Romania. Turkey make three changes, and they’re all enforced: Orkun Kökçü, İsmail Yüksek and Merih Demiral are all suspended; Samet Akaydin, Salih Özcan and captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu take their places.
The teams
Netherlands: Verbruggen, Dumfries, de Vrij, van Dijk, Ake, Reijnders, Schouten, Bergwijn, Simons, Gakpo, Depay.
Subs: Geertruida, de Ligt, Wijnaldum, Weghorst, Bijlow, van de Ven, Veerman, Blind, Brobbey, Zirkzee, Flekken, Gravenberch, Frimpong, Malen.
Turkey: Gunok, Muldur, Akaydin, Bardakci, Kadioglu, Ayhan, Ozcan, Guler, Calhanoglu, Yildiz, Yilmaz.
Subs: Celik, Yokuslu, Akturkoglu, Tosun, Yazici, Bayindir, Kaplan, Kahveci, Cakir, Kilicsoy, Akgun, Yildirim.
Referee: Clement Turpin (France).
Preamble
There weren’t too many people making a case for the Netherlands at the start of this tournament; Turkey began the month as the darkest of dark horses. Hipsters’ choices at best. But now look at them. The Dutch sashayed gracefully into the last eight with a 3-0 defeat of Romania; Turkey stormed into the quarters with a thrilling high-octane victory over Austria. Both teams have brought goals and entertainment to the party, and a legitimate case can be made for both as possible winners of the whole darn thing. Which sets up this quarter-final deliciously. Here’s to it delivering. Kick-off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
