EURO 2020 Round of 16!
The Netherlands are set to face Czech Republic in the round of 16 on Sunday, June 27, at the Ferenc Puskas Stadium, Budapest, Hungary.
Czech Republic finished third in the Group D with 4 points after one win, a draw and a loss, while the Netherlands picked up maximum 9 points in the Group C, beating Austria, Ukraine and North Macedonia.
So ahead of the Sunday's game here is what the head coaches have said.
Netherlands manager, Frank de Boer:
"What would be a success for this tournament? If we get to the last four, then we have done well. Ultimately we want to be getting paraded down the canals [of Amsterdam] on a boat: that is the ultimate goal. We not only want to reach the final, but also to win it. Then the tournament is completely successful. We are now focusing only on the Czech Republic; we have a lot of work to do to deal with the Czechs."
Jaroslav Šilhavý, Czech Republic head coach:
"The Dutch have a lot of quality. We were just studying them in detail: how hungry they are for goals and the great individual skill, they have a lot of pace. They know their game and play in a simple manner and get the ball forward as fast as possible to the forwards. If they lose it, they instantly press and it's very difficult. So, if we want to think about advancing, we have to give 100% – 150% – and if a few individual performances can be replicated like in the game against Scotland, when Tomáš Vaclík and Patrik Schick performed brilliantly, we have a good chance of winning."
Predicted lineups for the teams.
Netherlands Starting XI: Stekelenburg; Dumfries, De Ligt, De Vrij, Blind, Van Aanholt; De Jong, De Roon, Wijnaldum; Depay, Malen
Czech Republic Starting XI: Vaclík; Coufal, Čelůstka, Kalas, Kadeřábek; Souček, Holeš; Masopust, Barák, Jankto; Schick
The Netherlands will be the nominal hosts, which might give them a psychological advantage, and our prediction is that the home side will pick up a 1-0 win.
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