Holland semi-final evokes memories of ‘brilliant night’at Euro 96
Gareth Southgate has expressed his excitement at a rematch of “one of my best days”, after England were handed a mouth-watering Uefa Nations League semi-final against a resurgent Holland.
English and Dutch supporters will scramble for just 30,000 tickets in the Portuguese town of Guimaraes. England have around 10,000 travel club members, but there are early concerns that the allocation handed to the Football Association will be well under that figure. The Dutch also have a large following and many of them are likely to be disappointed.
More than 100 England fans were arrested in Amsterdam before a friendly with Holland last year, but Portugal officials promised last night that the summer “will be a big party”.
The match marks the nations’ first competitive encounter since Southgate featured in England’s cherished 4-1 group-stage victory over the Dutch at the 1996 European Championship. “It should be a really super game,” he said.
The England manager called on his players to evoke the spirit of that sunny evening at Wembley, which he described as “brilliant – one of my best days in football, no question”. “They had some outstanding players and we had one of our best performances,” he said. “It was a brilliant night to be involved in, one that has been talked about over the past couple of decades.”
The semi-final will be played on June 6 at the Estadio D Afonso Henriques, the night after Portugal and Switzerland play at the 50,033capacity Estadio do Dragao in Porto in the other half of the draw.
Due to the busy domestic season, Southgate may not be able to get his players together again until May, after the FA Cup final. He said he may have just two days to prepare for the match with the entire squad.
is the nature of it,” he said. “We have got to build on what we have been doing for the last 18 months and we have got an environment where players get back together very quickly and know what we are trying to achieve. But it is a strange balance, having six months to think about it and only having two days to prepare.”
Southgate said Holland, who have been resurgent in recent months since missing out on World Cup qualification, and Switzerland are “very evenly matched” with England. “Obviously, Portugal have had recent success, but the other three teams less so,” he said. “Some of the higher-ranked teams are not involved, so it’s quite fresh for everybody. I think it will be a really good week of football.”
The semi-final draw comes a day after England were drawn against Czech Republic, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Kosovo in a relatively kind-looking path to Euro 2020.
“We now know the next 12 months and that’s good for us in terms of planning,” Southgate said. “It’s also a strange six months in that we’ve got that time to plan for a semi-final – and potentially we might not get some of the players until two days before it.
“Nevertheless, it’s good to know exactly who we are playing and it should be a really super game and a great atmosphere.”
Southgate is looking forward to taking on Dutch manager Ronald Koeman, whom he sees regularly at Premier League matches.
Koeman, who memorably scored against Graham Taylor’s side as England missed out on the 1994 World Cup, said: “I like the way Gareth has managed this England side. He has given confidence and opportunities to young players and it’s the same way we like to do it in Holland.”