Virgil van Dijk expects a ‘tough’ match when the Netherlands face England in the semi-finals of Euro 2024 but insists he is determined to ‘make our dream come true’ by becoming European champions.
Ronald Koeman’s side set-up an intriguing semi-final meeting with England after coming from behind to beat Turkey 2-1 in Berlin.
Earlier in the day, England defeated Switzerland on penalties after a cagey quarter-final tie ended 1-1 in Dusseldorf.
On their comeback victory over Turkey and the prospect of facing England, Netherlands and Liverpool captain Van Dijk said: ‘You see how everyone reacts and works together.
‘We did everything we could, with tackles and saves. Now it’s time to recover and prepare for another tough match [against England on Wednesday].
‘We did everything we could to reach the semi-finals. Now it’s time to recover and prepare for another tough match. We can get to work. We all want to make our dream come true. We are one step closer.’
Koeman, meanwhile, said of the threat of England: ‘They have good players but so do we.
‘We are in the semi-finals of the European Championship – nobody expected that. If all goes well, we will play two more games.
‘It will be a great night on Wednesday between two big nations – a historic night,.
‘If we play in the final, my preference is Spain because we had France in the group. But first we must prepare in the best way to play a good semi-final.’
Ex-Manchester United striker Wout Weghorst added: ‘It will be a wonderful game. England semi-final, I cannot wait. I wish it was tomorrow.’
The Netherlands only progressed to the knockout stages of the Euros as one of the best third-place teams after taking four points from Group D.
They brushed aside Slovakia in the last-16 but fell behind to Turkey, Samet Akaydin heading his side in front ten minutes before half time.
The Netherlands equalised through Stefan de Vrij’s 70th-minute header and went ahead themselves six minutes later as Turkey’s Mert Muldur turned into his own net.
Turkey knocked on the door as the searched for an equalised but their impressive run in Germany was ended as the Dutch advanced to the final four.
‘It was a great performance,’ Koeman added. ‘We started well.
‘They started defending the spaces better after the opening phase. We kept playing the same but had to go around them. Then they started to [find momentum] and got the upper hand.
‘For the whole nation, it’s something special. We are a small nation and we’re in the semi-finals with England, France and Spain.
‘We are really proud. We had to suffer tonight, but there are no easy games. They put everything into it. It was an emotional match and we had a big heart.
‘Sometimes we get criticised that we don’t have that compared to other nations. It was a good second half. We had to suffer but it’s a great success to get the opportunity to play in a semi-final.’
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