Koeman: Netherlands defied doubters to set up England semifinal

BERLIN — Ronald Koeman said his Netherlands team proved their doubters wrong after coming from behind to beat Turkey in their Euro 2024 quarterfinal.

Netherlands scored two second-half goals in the space of six minutes to overturn a 1-0 half-time deficit and win 2-1 and set up a semifinal against England.

Afterwards, Koeman said the result showed that accusations his players don’t have “heart” are false.

“I think for the whole nation it is something special,” Koeman told a news conference.

“We are a small nation and to be part of the semifinal with England, France and Spain, we are really proud.

“We had to suffer tonight but in the whole Euros there is not an easy one.

“It was really an emotional match and we had a big heart and sometimes we get criticism about that, that we don’t have that compared to other nations. The players showed a big heart tonight after going 1-0 down.”

The result means Netherlands will play a first Euros semifinal since 2004.

They face England in Dortmund on Wednesday, after they needed extra time and penalties to beat Switzerland earlier in the day.

Both of England’s knockout ties have gone to extra time but Koeman dismissed the suggestion his players should be fresher after beating both Romania in the last 16 and Turkey inside 90 minutes.

“If you win the match, that always gives a good feeling,” he said.

“We need to recover like England. It is not the physical difference between them and us. We played on the same day, we need to travel like them. It is not the physical that will decide the result.

“It will be a great night on Wednesday between two big nations, historic-wise.”