Mert Muldur's own goal in the 76th minute has sent the Netherlands to the semifinals of the European Championship. The Netherlands came back to win 2-1 in a dramatic match against Turkey on Saturday night in Berlin.
Cody Gakpo came very close to scoring his fourth goal of the tournament, but Muldur pushed the ball into the wrong goal to give the Dutch the lead.
The match was dramatic from the start.
Turkey took the first lead in the 35th minute, with a goal scored by center back Samet Akaydin.
However, the center back of the Netherlands countered with a headed goal as well, in the 70th minute.
De Vrij was also chosen as the best player of the match.
"He was solid in defense and showed great initiative during the second half, when he evened the scores," UEFA wrote.
After the equalizing goal, the Dutch, led by Ronald Koeman, persistently searched for the lead goal, which ultimately gave them the victory.
The Netherlands will face England in the semi-finals.
The Netherlands - England semi-final will be played at the "Signal Iduna Park" stadium in Dortmund. The winner of this match will play against Spain or France in the final. France and Spain play on Tuesday night.
Turkey was without defender Merih Demiral, who has been suspended for two matches by UEFA for celebrating the nationalistic symbol, after scoring two goals in a 2-1 victory over Austria in the round of XNUMX.
The Netherlands became the second country to finish third in the group stage and reach the semi-finals of the European Championship, after Portugal in "Euro 2016". Portugal had triumphed that year.
For the Netherlands, it is the first European semifinal since 2004.
Despite the elimination, Turkey leaves with very good performances in this European. However, their negative record is that they have been punished with 19 yellow cards and one red card in "Euro 2024".
The Czech Republic had the same statistics in 1996.
The record was leveled after Bertug Yildirim was sent off minutes before the end. The Rennes player was an unused substitute in Germany.
