Dutch media: Oranje defeat "desecrated" anniversary of Euro 88
Dutch NewsLaid bare.” The Dutch media were unsparing in their analysis of the Dutch football team after they slumped to a 3-2 defeat to Austria in their final Euro 2024 group match in Berlin. “It was a moment that symbolised the match as a melodrama for Oranje and for its captain individually.” The Volkskrant’s veteran football writer Willem Vissers said the match had “desecrated the status of June 25 as a golden date in history”, referring to Oranje’s triumph exactly 36 years ago in the European Championship final in Munich. “If your defence isn’t holding up, you’re not marking tightly, you’re not aggressive, you don’t cover the space and you keep conceding possession to your opponent, then yes, it’s a dismal performance,” he said. The Telegraaf’s chief football writer Valentijn Driessen said defeat would surely spell the end of Koeman’s second spell as national team coach, in his first major summer tournament. “If Oranje are knocked out by England or the winner of Belgium’s group in the last 16, it will inevitably signal a day of reckoning,” Driessen said.