Netherlands 2-1 Turkiye: Late Dutch surge delivers semifinal spot

A EURO 2024 quarterfinal between Turkiye and Netherlands promised thrills at Berlin’s Olympiastadion on Saturday, and it delivered the goods as Ronald Koeman’s Dutch came back to win 2-1 and reach the semifinal round.

Turkiye’s Arda Guler set up a Samet Akaydin goal off a set-piece — what a surprise — but the Dutch battled back through goals from Stefan De Vrij and a Cody Gakpo-inspired Turkiye own goal to win 2-1.

[ MORE: EURO 2024 schedule, bracket ]

Koeman’s Dutch side breezed past Romania in the last 16 as their attacking machine has clicked into top gear, while Turkiye battled and dragged themselves into the last eight for the first time since 2008 as Vincenzo Montella’s side beat Austria in the last 16 thanks to two set-piece goals from Merih Demiral.

But Demiral was given a two-game ban by UEFA for a gesture he made after the game which UEFA said “violated the basic rules of decent conduct, for using sports events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and for bringing the sport of football into disrepute.”

Gakpo, Dutch seize initiative late to reach semis

Yes, young Mert Muldur goes down as the unhappy own goal scorer of record, but Cody Gakpo’s bull run to the back post was a near-perfect symbol of the Netherlands charge to take the quarterfinal away from Turkiye on Saturday.

The Turkish side was very good after weathering an early Dutch charge, and could’ve led by multiple goals by the break. But Ronald Koeman put an emphasis on initiative when he inserted big Wout Weghorst for Steven Bergwijn ar halftime.

That’s when things turned, and Weghorst even had a critical intervention in his own box to keep the score 1-0. De Vrij’s thumping header symbolically matched Turkiye’s imposing opener, and there can be no arguing that the Dutch deserved their comeback win.

Now, England.

Netherlands vs Turkiye player ratings (from fotmob.com)

What’s next?

The Dutch get England at 3pm ET Wednesday, with the winner meeting the victor of Spain and France in the EURO 2024 Final.

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How to watch Netherlands vs Turkiye, stream link and start time

Kick off: 3pm ET, Saturday (July 6)
Stadium: Olympiastadion, Berlin
How to watch on TV, stream in USA: Fox Sports

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Netherlands vs Turkiye live updates — By Nick Mendola

Netherlands vs Turkiye final score: 2-1

Goalscorers: Akaydin (35′), De Vrij (70′), Gakpo (76′)

Cody Gakpo goal! Netherlands 2-1 Turkiye (76th minute)

Wow. What a turnaround.

Cody Gakpo continues his excellent tournament by storming the back post to reach Denzel Dumfries low cross.

Gakpo might’ve drawn a penalty had the effort not slipped over the line. He’ll take the goal.

Dutch treat! De Vrij scores! Netherlands 1-1 Turkiye (70th minute)

Of course it’s an aerial threat, and it comes from Memphis Depay service.

Stefan de Vrij rises higher than the pack and thumps a header low past Mert Gunok.

Turkiye knocking on the door

Another set piece nearly leads to a Turkish goal, but a prone Wout Weghost makes a sensational play to limit the damage to a corner.

The set piece comes to nothing, but Turkiye look most likely to grab the next goal at this point.

About 25 minutes to play.

Halftime — Netherlands 0-1 Turkiye

The Dutch have had a bit more possession but a lot of that came in the first quarter-hour or so.

Turkey’s 43% possession includes a 6-4 advantage in shot attempts and a 0.55-0.35 edge in xG.

Even without the suspended Merih Demiral, Turkiye is making it happen in the air.

Akaydin goal video — Netherlands 0-1 Turkiye (35th minute)

Turkiye weathered an early charge from the Dutch, and then got back to what they do best.

Suspended Merih Demiral scored twice from headers this tournament, and this time it’s Fenerbahce star Samet Akaydin who thuds home terrific service.

A corner kick wound up at the other side of the box for Arda Guler, and what a delicious cross he sent back into the pack.

It hung up for several to attack, and Akaydin did just that. Game on.

Netherlands team news, focus

Steven Bergwijn started on the right against Romania and proved extremely useful in creating space for Denzel Dumfries to cause havoc. But Donyell Malen came on for him and scored twice. Still, it seems like that Koeman will stick with the same starting lineup against Romania as the Dutch put in their best performance of the tournament by some distance. The balance was spot on and in Gakpo they have a winger in fine form who is focusing on one thing: getting to goal as quickly and directly as possible.

Turkiye team news, focus

What a gutsy win it was by Turkiye against much-fancied Austria as they have been roared on by their incredible fans wherever they’ve played in Germany. The quality of Guler, Yilmaz and Yildiz was matched by the brilliant defending of Kadioglu, Demiral and Bardakci with Ayhan also leading by example in midfield. Montella will be forced into three changes as Yuksek, Demiral and Kokcu are suspended but Akaydin and Calhanoglu should come straight back in after they were suspended for the win against Austria. With Guler’s deliveries, Turkiye will be extremely dangerous from set-piece situations.

Netherlands vs Turkiye prediction

The Dutch should have too much quality in attack for Turkiye but there’s something about the spirit of Montella’s side which tells you they could easily pull off an upset. It will be chaos and Turkiye will prevail. Netherlands 1-2 Turkiye.