Two underachievers yet great footballing nations in the Euros ring: Will it be the dawn of a new era?

Two massive underachievers in world football are in the semifinals of Euro 2024! No prizes for guessing. England and the Netherlands. Believe it or not, in their long history, England have won just one major trophy i.e. the World Cup and it happened when today’s generation and the one before wasn’t even born. Yes, back in the day in 1966.

If a team has won the World Cup then the chances are they would have won the Euros too at some point. Here is a big shock for you: England haven’t ever won the Euros. In tournament history, it’s been only once that they have reached the final and that was last time around in 2021 when they came a cropper in a penalty shootout against Italy.

The Netherlands are sailing in the same boat. If truth be told, the number of world-class footballers the Dutch have produced over the years, it’s mind-boggling. From Johan Cruyff to Marco van Basten to Ruud Gullit to Arjen Robben… the Oranje have been blessed on that front but sadly they have no World Cup trophy to show for all their legendary stars. They reached back-to-back finals in 1974 and 1978 and then in 2010 but somehow couldn’t finish the job.

In terms of the Euros, they have not been that unlucky. They won the prestigious trophy in 1988. But the last time they were in the semis was in 2004. Not just in World Cup history, the Dutch have been underachievers in the Euros too. Until their win against Turkey in the quarterfinals, they had reached the semifinals a whopping five times but just once they could lift the trophy. So, one can see there are a lot of parallels going on between these two teams.

This tournament, both teams have struggled, honestly speaking. In the group stages, England had to slog to join the Round of 16 when in the lead-up to the tournament, most had expected them to have a cakewalk in light of their opponents in the group – Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia.

In their Round of 16 against Slovakia, they appeared on their way out when Jude Bellingham, through an acrobatic stunner, got the equalizer with just 86 seconds left on the clock. Harry Kane then scored early in extra time to take them to the quarterfinals where again they looked dull for the large part of the match.

When the Swiss opened the deadlock in 75th minute, no way were England going to make another staggering comeback but that’s what they did. Five minutes later, Bukayo Saka unleashed a scorcher to make it 1-1. The English eventually won the match on penalties.

The Dutch, on the other hand, suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Austria in the group stages. They finished third behind Austria and France and only qualified for the knockouts on account of being one of the best four teams across groups after the first and second group qualifiers.

In their quarterfinal against Turkey, they were trailing till the 70th minute of the game when Stefan de Vrij got them back on level terms. Six minutes later, a Mert Muldur own goal took them to the semis.

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Late Wednesday night, both teams thus have a lot to play for. Both have been trophyless for decades. Fans are getting restless. An Euros trophy can really breathe a lot of life into the static football cultures in both the countries; can really breathe a lot of life into their patriotism levels.

One of them going all the way will also be good news for world football. Spain and France are going to battle it out the day before in the other semis, and both have been big achievers at the international level in recent years. Needless to say, who the neutrals are likely to support! Yes, they are always with the underdogs. The Dutch and the English have a great opportunity to pull themselves out of the black hole they have been in for an awful long time.