Two giants of European football meet in Dortmund on Wednesday as the Netherlands take on England for a spot in the UEFA Euro 2024 final on Sunday against Spain.
Both teams head into the match with the belief that we still haven’t seen the best from them, but time is running out to show it. For England especially, there’s a feeling that anything less than a return trip to the final is a disappointment.
This Three Lions side loves to leave it late. It took Jude Bellingham’s spectacular overhead kick to force extra time in their Round of 16 encounter with Slovakia before a Harry Kane header won it early in the first extra 15 in a 2-1 victory. Then in the quarters against Switzerland, England fell behind again with Breel Embolo putting the Swiss up in the 75th. It was Bukayo Saka who came to the rescue only five minutes later with a low strike from just outside the area that beat Yann Sommer.
Extra time didn’t solve anything, and the match moved on to the traditional bane of England’s existence at international tournaments – penalties. This time, though, England left nothing to chance. A cheat sheet on his water bottle that let Jordan Pickford know of each potential Switzerland shooter’s penalty proclivities allowed the Everton goalkeeper to start the spot kicks with a stop on Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji. That would be all his shooters needed as all five Three Lions players converted their spot kicks, with Brentford forward Ivan Toney never averting his gaze from Sommer’s eyes in a moment of supreme confidence.
For Luke Shaw, it doesn’t matter how England got there. All that he’s concerned with is that they’re in another final four.
“The most important thing is winning,” the Manchester United left-back said. “At the moment, whether people like it or not, the way we’re playing [got us] in the semifinals. That’s all that matters.”
The 28-year-old Shaw, who had been out of action since February with a hamstring injury, made his tournament debut as a substitute in the quarters. He says he’s ready to play a full 90 minutes now, and thanked manager Gareth Southgate for sticking by him.
“The last four months have been really tough,” Shaw said. “At the start, I was expected to come back a lot sooner, but I went through a lot of setbacks. It was really nice to get on the other night and get some minutes – I’ve been itching. I think before the squad got announced, we had a plan to come back around the second or third game but, unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned and I was pushed back a game or so…They were really there for me, not just Gareth and [assistant manager] Steve [Holland], but the medical staff, as well. I have a lot to thank them for.”
On the other side of the pitch, the Oranje showed their mettle in the quarter-finals. After a comfortable 3-0 win over Romania in the Round of 16, the Dutch got all they could handle from Turkiye in the final eight.
Falling behind 1-0 late in the first half, it was almost curtains for Ronald Koeman’s team in the 65th. Bart Verbruggen did well to deal with a shot from distance from Arda Guler, but he parried directly into the path of Kaan Ayhan, who appeared to have a tap-in to double the lead. Before he could do that, though, striker Wout Weghorst intervened at the last possible moment to poke it away and keep his team alive in the match.
Only five minutes later, the Dutch were level when Stefan de Vrij met Memphis Depay’s cross with a powerful header to beat Mert Gunok. Then, moments after that, Mert Muldur turned a Denzel Dumfries cross into his own net as he attempted to stop Cody Gakpo from scoring a fourth goal of the tournament to make it 2-1 and the Netherlands held on.
City defender Nathan Aké believes the Oranje are finally rounding into form after a disappointing group stage that saw them finish third behind Austria and France.
“We’re building momentum,” Aké said. “We came through tough stages at the start of the tournament and now we’ve got through another test, so we’re ready. Underdog or not, it doesn’t matter. We focus on ourselves. We know what we need to do. We are very close now.”
From a tactical perspective, Southgate has a choice to make. Switching to a back three of Kyle Walker, John Stones and Ezri Konsa, in for the suspended Marc Guehi, to match Switzerland resulted in England’s best performance of the tournament. With the Oranje utilizing a back four, it would make sense to go back to the four-man backline Southgate utilized in the first four matches, but there was enough to like against Switzerland to once again go with three. What Southgate opts for remains to be seen and it’s unlikely he will tip his hand either way.
“A lot of our processes have been shared,” Southgate said of the news breaking in advance of the switch to the back three. “We live in an amazing world where it is so difficult for us because any element of surprise you might have is gone three days before the game. It’s quite incredible really.”
The Netherlands are 7-9-6 all-time against England and Wednesday’s match will be the fourth between the two teams at a major tournament and third at a Euro. En route to winning the entire tournament, the Oranje defeated England 3-1 at Euro 1988 in the group stage on a hat trick from Marco van Basten. Two years later at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the Three Lions and Netherlands would face off again in the group stage, this time playing to a 0-0 draw. Their final meeting took place at Euro 1996 as Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham each had a brace in a 4-1 Three Lions group-stage victory at Wembley Stadium.
While the last time these two teams met wasn’t at a major tournament, the match was of some importance. In the summer of 2019, the Oranje defeated England 3-1 in the UEFA Nations League semifinal on goals from Matthijs de Ligt and Quincy Promes and an own goal from Walker. Five England players from that match could feature on Wednesday, while seven are with the Oranje squad in Germany.
NETHERLANDS POTENTIAL XI (4-3-3): Bart Verbruggen; Denzel Dumfries, Stefan de Vrij, Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Aké; Jerdy Schouten, Xavi Simons, Tijjani Reijnders; Steven Bergwijn, Memphis Depay, Cody Gakpo
ENGLAND POTENTIAL XI (3-4-2-1): Jordan Pickford; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Marc Guehi; Bukayo Saka, Kobbie Mainoo, Declan Rice, Luke Shaw; Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham; Harry Kane
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
