Today's Talking Points
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1The Netherlands have one of the most exciting attacks in the tournament — Virgil van Dijk leads a settled defence and the squad includes Cody Gakpo and Memphis Depay, but the real star is 22-year-old Xavi Simons, who's been brilliant for PSG.
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2Netherlands last won a major trophy in 1988 — Euro 88 — which given the quality of players they've produced since, including a golden generation in the 2010s, is a remarkable record of near-misses.
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3They reached the 2010 World Cup final, lost to Spain in extra time, and have been trying to recapture that level ever since — this squad feels like it might be the one capable of finally doing it.
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4Their manager Ronald Koeman is a Netherlands legend as a player — he scored the winning goal in that 1988 final — and has been through a difficult rebuild to get to this point, losing his job once before returning.
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5Netherlands are in Group F with Japan, Sweden and Tunisia — Japan will be a tricky opener, having beaten Germany and Spain at the 2022 World Cup, and nobody in Europe has quite figured out how to approach them.
🍺 Top Thing To Say Down The Pub
Netherlands haven't won a trophy since 1988. With Van Dijk, Gakpo and Simons, this squad might actually be good enough to end that wait.
🚫 Avoid Saying
"Total Football" — that was the 1970s. Very impressive, nobody playing today was born then. There are better things to say about the Dutch than something their grandfathers did.