0-2 in the European Championship round of 16: The Netherlands fail to the Czech Republic and to themselves

Orange frustration in Budapest: The attack by the Dutch at the European Football Championship was surprisingly stopped in the round of 16.

After a disappointing performance, the Elftal lost 2-0 (0-0) against the bravely fighting outsider Czech Republic

and have been waiting for a place in an EM quarter-finals since 2008.

When the team of Bondscoach Frank de Boer was sent off against Matthijs de Ligt (52nd) because of handball, Tomas Holes (68th) and Patrik Schick from Leverkusen caused a hangover among thousands of Oranje with his fourth tournament goal (80th) -Fans in the stands. It is a bitter damper for the Dutch football euphoria, which had only been rekindled this year by the strong preliminary round. The Czechs, on the other hand, celebrated a surprise

coup and

once again gave the Dutch a very bitter evening

like in the legendary EM duel in 2004, when Pavel Nedved, Tomas Rosicky and Co. beat the Dutch. On Saturday they will face Denmark in the quarter-finals in Baku.

“We don't just want to reach the final, we also want to win it,” de Boer announced confidently and thus set the route for the coming days. After the easy stroll through the preliminary round, the Bondscoach again relied on the 5-3-2

which is

still controversial in the Netherlands 

without Wolfsburg's Wout Weghorst.

With the momentum from the group stage, the Dutch immediately looked for the way on the offensive. Always in the spotlight: the lightning-fast Memphis Depay and Donyell Malen. Especially after crosses from the flanks, the Elftal caused some dangerous situations in the Czech penalty area in the early stages. But only Denzel Dumfries (13th) got a compelling chance. The Czechs, with Bundesliga stars Schick and Pavel Kaderabek in the starting eleven, braced themselves against the dominant Dutch without their clock and captain Vladimir Darida. But the team of coach Jaroslav Silhavy Oranje took the initial swing and caused danger themselves through Tomas Souchek (22nd) and Antonin Barak (38th).

The Elftal, on the other hand, lacked the impetus in the offensive game from the so far outstanding Georginio Wijnaldum, who set an example against discrimination of all kinds with a "OneLove" captain's armband. Except for a few moments, the Dutch disappointed in the first round, the wit of the offensive stars rarely flashed. For example, after the break, when Depay Malen staged an ingenious hoe play, but he negligently missed the best opportunity in front of keeper Tomas Vaclik (52nd).

On the other hand, de Ligt cleared the ball with his hand in front of Schick, thus preventing a clear scoring chance and flew off the pitch according to video evidence. The two scenes give the Dutch a shock that the Czechs immediately tried to use. Immediately afterwards, Dumfries barely blocked Kaderabek's conclusion (64th), but Holes headed the opening goal from close range

and rewarded his team for the urge phase.