Euro-2024: England gets out of the Swiss trap and waits for the Netherlands

Winners of the Swiss after boredom and a penalty shootout (1-1 a.p. 5 t.a.b. &agrav; 3), on Saturday, England will play the semi-finals -finals of Euro-2024 against the Netherlands who came à end of Turkey (2-1), during a match with a strong political flavor.

As against Slovakia (2-1, a.p.) in the round of 16, the English, finalists of the last edition, had to be behind before reacting, this time through Bukayo Saka (80th).

Before that, the match, poor in chances, had been played at a false pace and the advantage taken by Switzerland five minutes earlier, by the Monaco striker Breel Embolo, was not usurped (1-0, 75th).

If in extra time Yann Sommer had to relax in the face of the rather timid attacks of Declan Rice (95th) or Jude Bellingham (102nd), his counterpart Jordan Pickford was the hero of the evening by pushing back a first shot on goal very badly taken by Manuel Akanji.

The Three Lions, for their part, succeeded in all their attempts and it was Trent Alexander-Arnold, who came on during extra time, who sent his team to the semi-final in Dortmund on Wednesday.

Players from the Netherlands celebrate their qualification for the Euro-2024 semi-finals after their victory against Turkey (2-1), in Berlin, Germany, July 6, 2024 © AFP – JOHN MACDOUGALL

The English now have a meeting with the Netherlands, who eliminated Turkey in Berlin in a match which was made worse by the suspension of defender Merih Demiral for having made a gesture with political connotations against Austria in the previous round.

Author of the decisive double (2-1), he celebrated his goals by making, with his hand, the sign of the “Grey Wolves”, an extreme organization Turkish right.

– March of Turkish fans stopped –

UEFA suspended him for two matches , but the affair took a political and diplomatic turn leading Ankara and Berlin to take turns summoning their respective ambassadors this week.

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Before the match, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended, in an Olympiastadion largely supported by the cause of the red and whites, the federal president of the German police union (GdP), Jochen Kopelke, called, in a press release, Turkish supporters not to repeat the gesture in the stands.

Turkish fans hold up a smoke bomb and give the “Grey Wolves” salute with their fingers in the stands of the Berlin Olympic Stadium, during the match between Turkey and the Netherlands, in Berlin, Germany, on July 6, 2024 © AFP – Odd ANDERSEN

“Politics has no place on the pitch”, especially “when contemptuous symbols are expressed”, he said in a statement.

A wasted effort, since more than two hours before the match, Berlin police announced that they had put an end to the “Fan Walk” of Turkish fans heading to the stadium.

In the procession, “the 'Grey Wolves' salute was massively given. The police therefore stopped the march and urged fans to stop making the sign,” she wrote on X. “A fan march is not a platform for political messages,” she added.

Before the match, Turkish fans could be seen on giant screens making the “Grey Wolves” gesture — joining the thumb with the middle and ring fingers, while the index and little fingers are raised. to make the ears of a wolf's head — during the Turkish anthem.

Turkish midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu sees his shot blocked by Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries during the quarter-final of Euro-2024 between the two nations, won by the Netherlands (2-1), in Berlin, Germany, July 6, 2024 © AFP – Odd ANDERSEN

On the field, the Turks were galvanized by popular support and opened the scoring, like a symbol, by Samet Akaydin, Demiral's replacement, in the 35th minute (1-0).

But the Oranje took the lead in the second half and ended up winning thanks to Stefan de Vrij (70th) and an own goal from Mert Müldür (76th). They thus return to the last four of a Euro for the first time since 2004, more than a year and a half after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.

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