The Dutch national team managed to beat Turkey on Saturday night (2-1) after a much better second half than the first. Denzel Dumfries played an absolute leading role by unnecessarily giving away the corner kick from which Samet Akaydin's opening goal came. The right back fought his way back into the duel and, in addition to his assist, also stood his ground defensively. National coach Ronald Koeman praises Dumfries.

Koeman saw that Oranje could have taken an early lead through Memphis Depay, who shot over after barely a minute of play. After that good phase, Oranje lost control of the match. “We kept playing the same. Then you have to play around it. We became sloppy.”

“Then they started to feel something and you shouldn't give them that, because they deal with it in a very good way. They feel that too and then the goal comes. A deflected corner… I thought: what is denzel doing?“

Dumfries didn't notice that a Turkish pass was deflected by Nathan Aké, causing Dumfries to let the ball run. From the ensuing corner, Akaydin headed Turkey into the lead. “I think it was a corner and he let it run,” Koeman reflects on the moment with Dumfries.

“Why don't you hold him back? At the back we don't keep a line so it's not offside, but they are very good at that too,” the referee praised Turkey, who capitulated after half-time due to goals from Stefan de Vrij and an own goal from Mert Müldür.

In the final phase, Turkey came close to equalizing several times. However, the Dutch team held out, partly thanks to Dumfries. “If we had more players with such a big heart as Denzel, we could have done even better,” Koeman is lyrical.

NOS-presenter Jeroen Stekelenburg mentions that there were more players with a lion's heart, such as Micky van de Ven and Wout Weghorst. Both substitutes performed excellently. “Yes, there were more”, Koeman agrees with Stekelenburg's statement. “I also think that this is the victory based on quality.”

“We got stronger and they couldn't get out of it anymore. We came behind and won the game at the end with a bit of luck. We sometimes get criticized for not giving in, but we did that today.”

“All in all, we are in the semi-finals of a European Championship and that is something to be proud of,” Koeman continues. “Of course I take into account that we have not had the best teams yet, so I understand that people think it is logical. But it is not that logical.”

“You see all the results that have been there. We are going further and that is a big compliment to the players. The mission is not finished, but semi-final is more than good. But if you are in the semi-final you want to get to the final. And you want to win that.”

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