Euro 2020: Oranje boom and bust as Czechs roll on
June 27, 2021
Netherlands 0-2 Czech Republic, Budapest
(Holes 68', Schick 80')
It's time to take the Czech Republic seriously.
With just one win in their previous seven European Championship games, they headed into this last 16 contest with the revitalized Netherlands as the underdogs. But they emerged from it as quarterfinalists and with refreshed memories of Euro 1996, when they reached the final in London.
The game's turning point came in the 55th minute, when the towering Dutch presence of Matthijs de Ligt was dismissed for handling the ball as Patrik Schick had pressured the Juventus defender into his mistake. For De Ligt and the Netherlands, it proved fatal.
As the Dutch caved, their opponents prospered — but the Czechs had shown great resilience before that point. Following an even first half and a controlled Czech display, the red card eventually flipped the contest in their favor and Tomas Holes broke the deadlock with a header at the far post following a fine headed assist by Tomas Kalas.
Patrik Schick, the Bayer Leverkusen target man, sealed the victory with a finely-taken second for the Czechs. Schick now has four goals in the tournament, and RB Leipzig must be wondering why they let him go.
As the Dutch machine stuttered and spluttered, the Czechs were assured and managed the game perfectly. Defending is their priority, but when they get the chance to break, they flood forward in numbers.
It's a simple game plan dependent on high energy, economic use of the ball and clinical finishing. Coach Jaroslav Silhavy has got it down to an art form.
Back to square one for the Dutch
The Dutch, whose promise in the group stage suggested an Orange renaissance was in the offing, simply wilted amid the febrile atmosphere of a full-house in Budapest.
The scale of the collapse following De Ligt's sending off exposed the fragile core that still lurks beneath the surface. It's at times like these that they could really do with their injured inspirational captain Virgil van Dijk.
Coach Frank de Boer will feel the heat for his in-game decisions. Following the red card, he chose to sacrifice Donyell Malen who, despite missing a one-on-one with Czech goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik, was the Netherlands' main goal threat. De Boer could have adjusted with the players still on the field, but Malen took Dutch hopes with him.
De Boer, whose coaching career has failed to live up to a glittering playing career, was a controversial choice when he took the Netherlands hot seat last year and became the first ever Dutch coach to fail to win any of his first four games.
His opposite number Silhavy won this tactical battle and, with the Czechs on the opposite side of the draw to many of the so-called heavyweights, there will be quiet self-belief that the class of 2021 can repeat the Czech heroics of 25 years ago.