Netherlands into Euro 2024 semifinal against England after beating Turkey
Associated PressBERLIN — The Netherlands dug deep to come from behind and beat Turkey 2-1 on Saturday and book its place in the European Championship semifinals. An own goal from Mert Muldur in the 76th minute, only six after Stefan De Vrij canceled Samet Akaydin’s first-half header for Turkey, was enough for the Dutch in the last of the quarterfinals. “We had to suffer but finally it’s a great success.” Turkey was without defender Merih Demiral, who was suspended for two matches by UEFA for making a nationalistic hand gesture after scoring in Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Austria. German interior minister Nancy Faeser had said Demiral used his celebration “as a platform for racism” and federal minister Cem Özdemir, a German politician of Turkish descent, said the gesture “stands for terror, fascism.” Many Turkish fans made the gesture on their way to Berlin’s Olympiastadion, and again during Turkey’s national anthem before the game. “We didn’t start the second half very well and fell behind,” Turkey captain Hakan Calhanoglu said.