Austria (right) played brilliantly against the Netherlands in the group stage - Photo: Reuters
At 11pm on July 2 (Vietnam time), Romania will face the Netherlands, followed by the final match of the round of 16 between Austria and Türkiye at 2am on July 3.
Don't underestimate Romania
Ahead of Euro 2024, the Netherlands are among the eight teams that bookmakers consider to be the favourites to win the tournament. They are also among the eight teams with the highest player values according to Transfermarkt.
According to Transfermarkt, the total value of Dutch players participating in Euro 2024 is 815 million euros, 9 times higher than Romania (92 million euros). But when entering the round of 16, Romania is comfortably in the top position, while the Netherlands is only in the group of 3rd place teams with good results.
The Dutch national team's strength was actually questioned even before the Fussballliebe ball started rolling. They received bad news in succession with the last-minute injuries of Koopmeiners and Frenkie De Jong. Those are two of the most talented midfielders in Dutch football in recent years. This made it difficult for coach Ronald Koeman to react in time. And he hardly had any friendly matches to test his younger midfielders.
And indeed, the hole left by De Jong and Koopmeiners was too big. The Netherlands were drawn in a very strong group with France as the favourites, and Austria and Poland as the mid-table teams in Europe. The Netherlands were outclassed in all three of those games. They fell behind to Poland (but came back), were controlled by France, and then were convincingly defeated by Austria.
Finishing third in their group, the Netherlands are clearly no longer favourites. Their hopes were boosted by the fortune of being drawn in the dark horse bracket, with Romania as their round of 16 opponents. The Eastern European side are one of the most exciting teams in the tournament.
Without any notable attacking players, Romania became one of the most effective attacking teams at Euro 2024. Specifically, Romania scored 4 goals - more than England, France, Belgium, Italy...
But despite being the group leader, Romania is still considered the "underdog" when facing the Netherlands. In the last 4 encounters, the Netherlands won all and scored 13 goals, conceding only 1 goal.
Statistics agency Opta believes that the Netherlands has a 62.8% chance of winning within 90 minutes in this match (Romania only has 15.3%). But with unpredictable developments since the beginning of the tournament, coach Koeman and his team obviously cannot be subjective.
Austria is better than Türkiye?
The final match of the round of 16 is probably the most balanced. According to Transfermarkt, Türkiye with a squad value of 324 million euros and Austria with a squad value of 237 million euros are side by side in the ranking of teams that have reached the round of 16. And their performances in the group stage have exceeded experts' expectations. Both deserve to be considered the most interesting "dark horses" at Euro 2024.
Austria suffered a big loss when many stars were absent due to injury such as Alaba, Schlager... But before the round of 16, the balance of forces became more balanced when Türkiye suspended two pillars Calhanoglu and Akaydin. Meanwhile, Austria kept its strongest squad.
The squad value cannot fully reflect the strength of a team. Türkiye has many quality young players with great potential, so they are highly valued by Transfermarkt.
On the contrary, Austria's strength is concentrated in experienced stars like Sabitzer, Trauner, Arnautovic... These are players who are no longer highly valued, but in the international arena, they are a reliable support.
Austria and Türkiye have not only achieved impressive results, they are also the most interesting teams in the tournament with their beautiful playing style. Austria are led by German "pressing master" Ralf Rangnick with a strong, fast football philosophy. Except for the strong France team, Austria played a direct attack against both Poland and the Netherlands in the group stage.
As for Türkiye, their coach is Vincenzo Montella - a rare Italian strategist pursuing an attacking style of football. Türkiye also created a unique attacking style in the group stage, which is beautiful long-range shots.
The winner of this match will become the most promising "dark horse" of Euro 2024. And who knows, their opponent in the quarter-finals will be Romania.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/kho-luong-nhanh-dau-ngua-oo-euro-2024-20240702100130411.htm
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