‘We had a big heart’

The Netherlands’s Stefan de Vrij celebrates his goal against Turkey on Saturday. Pic/AFP

Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman said his team proved they had "a big heart" as they came from behind to beat Turkey 2-1 on Saturday to reach the Euro 2024
semi-finals.

Two goals inside seven minutes helped the Dutch defeat Turkey in a tight quarter-final clash in Berlin and set up a final-four date with England on Wednesday.
Stefan de Vrij headed home an equaliser in the 70th minute after Samet Akaydin sent Turkey ahead, before Murt Muldur's own goal six minutes later handed Netherlands the victory.

Dutch coach Ronald Koeman

Emotional match

"I think for the whole nation it's something special, we're a small nation and we're in the semis with England, France and Spain, and we're really proud," Koeman told reporters. "We had to suffer tonight, but that's the same across the whole Euros, they gave everything, it was a really emotional match. We had a big heart - sometimes we get criticism about that, that we don't have that compared to other nations, [but] the players showed a big heart tonight."

Turkey fans dominate stands

Turkey fans dominated in the stands given their large diaspora in Germany but the Dutch survived the flares and piercing whistles to scrape through. "We had to suffer - it's a great success to be able to play the semi-final," added Koeman.

"You saw tonight there are no small nations, you need to fight and play well, there are difficult moments in a game whoever your opponent are."

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