That’s it for tonight’s blog. Jamie Jackson has filed his match report so I’ll leave you with that. Thanks for your company and emails - see you tomorrow for England v Scotland. Night!
Full time: Netherlands 2-0 Austria
Peep peep! The Netherlands join Italy and Belgium in the last 16 after a comfortable victory over an agomphious Austria. Memphis Depay’s early penalty put them ahead, and the impressive wing-back Denzel Dumfries sealed the win with his second goal of the tournament. They have won their group with a game to spare, which means Frank de Boer can play the reserves against North Macedonia if he is so inclined.
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90+1 min Four minutes of added time.
90 min “Won’t a draw between Ukraine and Austria send Ukraine through on goals scored, as things stand?” says Jason Finch.
It would, but four points would almost certainly be enough for Austria to go through as one of the best third-placed teams.
89 min Lazaro’s hopeful cross is headed wide by Kalajdzic near the penalty spot.
86 min Kalajdzic has been excellent since coming on. He beats four players in a tight space and finds Leiner, whose overhit cross is retrieved by Onisiwo. He wins a corner, but that’s also overhit and headed away.
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85 min: Good chance for Austria! Karim Onisiwo almost scores with his first touch. Kalajdzic flipped a nice pass over the defence towards Onisiwo, who pulled off his man but then headed straight at Stekelenburg.
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84 min Two more changes for Austria: Philipp Lienhart and Karim Onisiwo replace Dragovic and Schlager.
83 min Luuk de Jong replaces Memphis Depay, who scored the first and helped make the second.
82 min I don’t think this Netherlands team is good enough to win the tournament, not without Virgil van Dijk, but with a fair wind they could easily reach the semi-finals. The team spirit looks excellent.
81 min Alaba charges forward from defence and smacks a superb 25-yard shot that swerves just wide of the far post. That was a lovely effort.
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78 min It’s unusual to see a Netherlands side that is happy to play on the counter-attack, but they’ve done it very well tonight.
76 min Dumfries is on his haunches, holding his personal space after an accidental collision with Lazaro.
75 min Austria know a draw against Ukraine in their final game should be enough for them to reach the knockout stages of a tournament for the first time since 1982. They’ve been dismal tonight, mind.
74 min Another change for the Dutch: Ryan Gravenberch replaces de Roon, who had a good game doing the dirty work in midfield.
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72 min Ah, he came on for Gregoritsch in the 62nd minute. Awards please!
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72 min Hang on, when did Kalajdzic come on?
71 min A dangerous corner from the substitute Lazaro hits Kalajdzic, takes a deflection off a Dutch defender and rolls this far wide.
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71 min So, the Netherlands will play a third-placed team from group A, D, E or F in the last 16. Realistic possibilities include Switzerland, Portugal, Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden, Slovakia and Poland.
70 min Another change for Austria: Valentino Lazaro replaces Baumgartner.
68 min The right wing-back Denzel Dumfries is having a fine tournament: two goals, one assist and umpteen barnstorming runs.
Austria are punished for their dangerously high line. Depay, just inside his own half, flicked a clever pass through to the substitute Malen. He drew the keeper and then squared the ball to Dumfries, whose shot went through the diving Bachmann and into the net. It looked close to offside but replays showed Malen was comfortably on.
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GOAL! Netherlands 2-0 Austria (Dumfries 67)
Denzel Dumfries scores his second of the tournament!
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65 min A triple change for the Netherlands: Nathan Ake, Donyell Malen and Owen Wijndal replace Daley Blind, Wout Weghorst and Patrick van Aanholt.
63 min Austria still haven’t had a shot on target. The Netherlands have only had two, but it’s the thought that counts.
62 min Weghorst shoots well wide on the turn from 15 yards.
62 min A change for Austria: Konrad Laimer is replaced by Florian Grillitsch.
61 min: Good save from Bachmann! The corner almost leads to a second goal. It was driven very deep by Depay towards Weghorst, who headed it back across goal. An instinctive header from de Vrij was pushed away by the flying Bachmann, and de Jong’s follow-up deflected this far wide.
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60 min Depay slides a nice pass inside the wing-back Lainer for van Aanholt, whose cross is put behind by the lunging Lainer. That was a good recovery from him.
59 min “Is the Anschluss/Disgrace of Gijon a bit too overhyped?” muses Niall Mullen. “Eight years later Ireland & the Netherlands downed tools at 1-1 in their last group game to ensure they both went through at Egypt’s expense but neither team have gone down in infamy like Germany and Austria (although Frank Rijkaard tried his best to rectify this in Holland’s next game).”
I watched the game in full a few years ago, because I’m like that, and it was nowhere near as bad as I expected. Much of the outrage was because they qualified at the expense of a brilliant, charming Algeria side.
57 min Austria have played with greater purpose and intensity since half time, though they still don’t really look like scoring.
55 min The swashbuckling Dumfries runs onto a lovely pass from Wijnaldum. But his cross is blocked, with the ball ricocheting off Dumfries and out for a throw-in.
51 min “As an Israeli,” says Ezra Finkelstein, “is it cool to support the referee?”
Of course, especially when he’s following in the footsteps and whistleblows of possibly the greatest referee of all time.
49 min Dumfries cuts the ball back to Wijnaldum on the edge of the area. He moves the ball onto his left foot and swishes a shot that is well blocked by Dragovic. Wijnaldum, a goal threat at the best of times, is even more dangerous in this advanced role.
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46 min Laimer breaks into space down the right, looks up and slides a low cross that is intercepted by de Ligt. He might have done better there.
46 min Peep peep! The Netherlands begin the second half.
“True, France was at the 1978 FIFA WC,” says Alexandre Chesneau. “I had almost forgotten that, but I shouldn’t have - while the performances were largely forgettable (not that I would know about that by virtue of not being born at the time - that’s hearsay from people who lived to see it), their dead rubber against Hungary was somewhat worth remembering. Both teams turned up in white and France (who were apparently at fault, failing to take into account a note from FIFA) had to borrow kits from a local club. It’s probably the only time France wore green and white strips in any competition.”
France were pretty unlucky to get such a fiendish group. They played superbly against the hosts Argentina, eventually losing a classic and controversial match 2-1. But you’re right, the kit is the first thing people talk about.
“I was a bite late to the MBM tonight and see I’ve already missed references to 1978, 1996, Three Lions, Peru and Iran,” says Simon McMahon. “This is what the kids call ‘trolling’, right? And though I agree England may well have lost the collective noggin in many things recently, losing to Scotland is, alas, not one of them. Can we just skip to Saturday after this game, please?”
Or to the release of The Second Big Weekend by Arab Strap later in the year.
“The ‘Welsh referee’ that Andreas Broman referred to was the marvellous Clive Thomas,” says Matt Dony. “Even by normal refereeing standards, he had a somewhat pedantic attitude towards application of the laws of the game. And he was one of Wales’ biggest sports stars for a long time. Heady days. Glad we have a little more to cheer about these days!”
The Netherlands were particularly big fans of Clive Thomas.
Half-time reading
Half time: Netherlands 1-0 Austria
Peep peep! That was a very comfortable half for the Dutch. A split-second misjudgement from David Alaba allowed Memphis Depay to ram home an early penalty, and both he and the captain Gini Wijnaldum could have made it 2-0 just before the break. Austria had plenty of the ball and did precisely bugger all with it.
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45 min “Re the European teams at the 1978 World Cup: Sweden, obviously,” says Andreas Broman. “Thomas Sjöberg scored in the opener v Brazil, they equalised and Zico thought he had the winner - only for it to be chalked off by the Welsh ref who claimed it was a second too late. We also played Austria and Spain, so that’s three. Plus Scotland, Holland. West Germany, Italy? Then possibly Poland. Leave the rest for you.”
Yep, Italy, Poland, France and Hungary were the others. Then Argentina, Brazil, Tunisia, Mexico, Peru and Iran, I think.
44 min Now Depay has a shot blocked after good play from Wijnaldum.
43 min “Rob, you are being far too harsh on your mother country,” says Mary Waltz. “No one does darts like England.”
Ahem.
41 min van Aanholt surges into the area and lays the ball back to Wijnaldum, whose first-time shot is crucially blocked by Ulmer. Wijnaldum didn’t connect as cleanly as he would have liked.
40 min: Depay misses a great chance! van Aanholt sprays a fine angled pass over the defence towards Weghorst in the inside-right channel. He could shoot but instead guides the ball across the area towards the unmarked Depay. It takes a slight deflection and then Depay, on the stretch, lifts the bouncing ball over the bar from six yards. It did sit up a little awkwardly for Depay, but he should still have scored.
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38 min If it stays like, the Netherlands will win the group and Austria will need a point against Ukraine to be (99 per cent) sure of reaching the last 16. A draw would also be enough for Ukraine. Reports that the match is being moved to Gijon are unconfirmed.
36 min “Thanks for the link to the video of Ogris’s impressive individual strike at Italia ’90,” says Martin Hughes. “I thought there was something a bit off with the video until I realised it’s just not quite the same without the inimitable commentary of a certain A.P.”
35 min Hinteregger tries to homage Giovani van Bronckhorst’s absurd goal in the 2010 World Cup semi-final. It’s beautifully struck but a few yards over the bar.
34 min It’s not a great game. You’re welcome.
32 min Austria are having a good spell, with Sabitzer increasingly influential, and de Vrij is lucky not to be booked for an off-the-ball block of Ulmer.
30 min “In my experience, VAR in Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga is of similar quality to VAR at the Euros,” says Kári Tulinius. “It seems mostly to be the Premier League which mucks VAR up. I can’t tell you what they do differently in Stockley Park, though.”
It’s almost as if, in the last few years, England has completely lost the noggin in almost every aspect of human existence.
29 min Sabitzer plays a nice through pass to Baumgartner, who takes it in his stride and is about to shoot when de Ligt makes a lovely sliding tackle from the side. That was classy defending, clean as a whistle.
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28 min Austria appeal in vain for a penalty when Baumgartner’s shot hits de Ligt. I don’t think so. I think de Ligt wore it on the forehead, in fact,and then it bounced up between his legs.
26 min “I totally agree with Mary Waltz (16 min) on penalty style,” says Mike MacKenzie. “My favourite ever penalty taker was Beppi Signori of Lazio. He was left footed and always stood two steps from penalty spot. Then it was two steps that weren’t even very quick and wham! And into the net went the ball.”
You want penalty style? I’ll show you penalty style.
24 min Depay runs onto a long throw, knees the ball into space and lashes it into the side netting. That was a good effort from a fairly tight angle on the right side of the area. It was also poor defending from Alaba, who allowed the ball to run across his body and into the path of Depay.
22 min Not much is happening, which gives me the opportunity to apologise for making a Horlicks of the permutations in the preamble. If Netherlands win tonight they will definitely finish first in the group, but that’s not the case for Austria if they win. Don’t ask me why, it’s far too tedious to explain.
20 min “It’s against my nature to be positive about anything, so I’m going to turn this into a whinge,” says Tom Hopkins. “VAR seems to have been surprisingly untedious in the tournament thus far. I’m saying that puts the approach of the fun haters at Stockley Park into sharp relief?”
It’s been good, hasn’t it - quicker and clearer.
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18 min Netherlands look pretty comfortable. Austria have had plenty of the ball but look on the gummy side of toothless.
16 min “Depay provides a perfect argument to those penalty takers who prefer the slow walk, hop, skip and shoot penalty trend,” says Mary Waltz. “Two steps, strike with power wins even if the goalie goes in the right direction.”
14 min de Roon is booked for a sliding foul on Gregoritsch.
13 min Depay whips a first-time shot from 22 yards that is really well blocked by Dragovic (I think).
12 min Alaba was also booked for that foul on Dumfries.
GOAL! Netherlands 1-0 Austria (Depay 11 pen)
Memphis Depay scores! It was an excellent penalty, driven hard and low to the left. Bachmann went the right way but was nowhere near it.
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10 min: PENALTY GIVEN! It’s an Andrex-soft penalty, but a penalty nonetheless. Dumfries beat Alaba to a loose ball, approximately a centimetre inside the area, and was caught.
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9 min: VAR check! Netherlands have a decent appeal for a penalty turned down when Dumfries beats Alaba to a loose ball right on the edge of the area. I think this will be given.
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8 min Schlager is robbed near the halfway line by De Roon, who shoves the ball forward to Weghorst. He tries play in Dumfries but the pass is underhit and that’s the end of that.
5 min Ulmer zig-zags between Dumfries and de Vrij on the left edge of the area and then falls over after a tangle of legs with Dumfries. Nobody really appealed for a penalty, which is a surprise. I don’t think it was a penalty, but it was worth haranguing the referee in the hope he might panic and give it.
4 min And now the Netherlands enjoy a bit of quality time with the pig’s bladder.
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3 min Lots of early possession for Austria, most of it in their own half.
1 min David Alaba has again started as the spare man in defence for Austria.
1 min Peep peep! Austria, in their black strip, kick off from right to left. The Netherlands are in their beloved brilliant orange.
“Painful reminder of 1978…” says Graeme Keay. “Of course, the one team that I and Scots remember being in the finals was ... Peru. Oh, the national humiliation, the shame, the pain. But we’re over it now, really we are, thanks for asking...”
On the plus side, you seem to have closure on the Iran game, and I thought that was the real quiz humiliation.
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“None of us can work out why the Dutch go into the game ahead of Austria in the table?” says Nick Crowther.
It’s because Ukraine won today, so it becomes a mini-league involving the three teams on three points. The Netherlands are top because they beat Ukraine, while Austria are yet to play a game in the mini-league. Had Ukraine drawn or lost today, Austria would be top of the group. I think.
The players line up for the anthems. It’s a beautiful evening in Amsterdam, and the Johan Cruijff Arena is a sea of orange.
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If you’re into a bit of digital polyamory, you can join liveblog genius Scott Murray for coverage of the US Open. But please do it in a new browser, not just a new tab, or my pride will be mortally wounded.
“Your clip prompted me to look up where the 1978 World Cup was held because there was such a distance between the pitch and the crowd I wasn’t sure if it was on the moon,” says Matt Burtz. “Anyway, it was in Argentina, and in my research I learned that it was the last World Cup to be limited to 16 teams. Ten of those came from Europe, and aside from the two we know about, I defy anyone to name the other eight without cheating, as it is a motley assortment.”
Come on, that’s easy: Scotland and seven others.
“I don’t believe in revenge and I don’t believe that Austria have a strong chance of grabbing all three points today,” tubthumps Peter Oh. “However, I’m willing to suspend my disbelief for a couple of hours in the slim hope that Alaba and company will exorcise the 5:1 loss to the Dutch at the 1978 World Cup. Arnautovic’s absence will hurt (more so because it was so avoidable) but on their day the Austrians have enough quality to squeeze the Oranje for maximum juice.”
That’s the only previous game between these two at a major tournament. The defending isn’t the best, though it’s nice to be reminded of Rob Rensenbrink’s incisive elegance.
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Pre-match reading
Team news
Both teams make one change from their victories on Sunday. Mathias de Ligt has recovered from a groin injury and replaces Jurrien Timber in the Dutch defence. Austria bring in Michael Gregoritsch, who scored from the bench against North Macedonia, for Sasa Kalajdzic. Marko Arnautovic is suspended.
Netherlands (3-4-1-2) Stekelenburg; de Vrij, de Ligt, Blind; Dumfries, De Roon, F de Jong, van Aanholt; Wijnaldum; Weghorst, Depay.
Substitutes: Krul, Bizot, Veltman, Ake, Wijndal, Berghuis, L De Jong, Promes, Klaassen, Gravenberch, Malen, Timber.
Austria (3-1-4-2) Bachmann; Dragovic, Alaba, Hinteregger; Schlager; Lainer, Laimer, Sabitzer, Ulmer; Gregoritsch, Baumgartner.
Substitutes: A Schlager, Pervan, Ilsanker, Grillitsch, Lienhart, Trimmel, Schaub, Schopf, Onisiwo, Lazaro, Kalajdzic, Friedl.
Referee Orel Grinfeeld (Israel).
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Preamble
After 21 years of hurt and hubris – acquired on a blood-splattered balcony in Memphis – the tall showboating preacher in the handsomely cut double-breasted suit received his heart’s desire: anointment. And the television arc lights never went out.
If you were paying attention to your super soaraway Guardian in 1989, you’ll recall this quote from Alex Brummer’s feature on the Reverend Jesse Jackson. It is also, according to a search of our digital archive, the only time the phrase “years of hurt” was used in this beloved rag before 1996. Then Ian Broudie wrote the lyrics to Three Lions, and the phrase became part of the lexicon of sport. It’s used most often during international tournaments - not only in football, and not only when England are getting giddy again.
There are a few variants of sporting hurt. For the bigger nations it’s usually the time since they last won a tournament; for others it’s when they last won a match at a tournament, or got out of the group. Austria ended 31 years of the H-word on Sunday, winning at a major tournament for the first time since Andreas Ogris’s aerodynamic mullet helped them to victory over the USA at Italia 90. Now they are focussing on a new variant - if they win tonight, they will reach the knockout stages for the first time since the Disgrace of Gijon in 1982. A draw should also be enough, even if it means they would have to wait a few more days for confirmation.
It’s 33 years since the Netherlands captured the imagination, and the pseudocabulary, by winning Euro 88. But they have recently ended seven years of hurt - serious, humiliating, existential hurt - by qualifying for this tournament. In decades to come, football historians will scratch their heads and wonder how the hell they failed to qualify for consecutive tournaments in 2016 and 2018. The world is a better place when the Netherlands are involved, and they started with a dramatic 3-2 win over Ukraine on Sunday. This isn’t the most brilliant Dutch team we’ve ever seen, but they could still go deep in the tournament - especially if they win tonight.
Ukraine’s win over North Macedonia this afternoon means that victory for either side tonight would guarantee first place in the group, never mind qualification. That’s important because, all things being equal, it should mean a much easier route to a potential semi-final. I would talk you through the infinite permutations, but that’s a whole different kind of hurt.
Kick off 8pm in London, 9pm in Amsterdam and Vienna.
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