An astonishing article in a Dutch newspaper has hammered Wales as well as the Netherlands following their exits from Euro 2020.
Wales were consigned to their fate on Saturday with a 4-0 defeat by Denmark in the last 16 of the tournament, while the Dutch bowed out on Sunday evening following a limp 2-0 loss to the Czech Republic.
Wales reached the knockout rounds for the second successive European Championships, however it is widely accepted they were outplayed by the Danes on the day in their second-round tie.
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The Netherlands, though, were fancied in their clash with the Czechs, however a red card for defender Matthijs de Ligt proved a pre-cursor for the Dutch downfall..
And the Dutch press have been withering in their assessment of the team in the fallout of their defeat.
Oddly, though, Wales has been caught up in the detritus.
Wales were in the firing line for Voetbal International's editorial on Monday morning, with writer Peter Wekking branding the Welsh as simply "hobby kickers" and that it "isn't even a real country".
The article, which was titled simply 'As bad as Wales, and that’s not even a real country’, began with this tasteless opening shot.
“With the victories of Max Verstappen and Matthieu van der Poel, it had everything to be a blissful Sunday. It became a black one. The Dutch national team managed the improbable thing: it managed to lose to a Czech team that can’t really play football well at all.
“At the moment that the European Championship with the knockout matches actually only started, the tournament for the Dutch national team was already coming to an end. Eliminated in the eighth finals, just like the hobby kickers from Wales.
"That is the state of the current Orange. Just as bad as Wales. And that’s not even a real country.”
Needless to say, the article has enraged Welsh fans, who are fiercely passionate and supportive of their national team, who have done their country proud over the course of the last two tournaments.
These are heady days for Welsh football fans, who have waited generations to see their team battling it out once again on the biggest stage.
It is a team that promises great things to come in the future, with so many young stars only now at the beginning of their careers.
It is safe to say that Welsh fans up and down the country will dust themselves down, keep their chins up and look ahead to what is next in a far more dignified manner.
