Netherlands on Monday earned a crucial victory against Greece in Group B of 2024 Euro qualifiers. The Dutch dug deep for the win, with captain Virgil Van Dijk scoring a late goal from the penalty spot. The win moved Netherlands to the second spot of their group with 12 points from six matches.
Greece was three points clear of the Dutch before this match, having played a game more. Greece would have tightened their grip on second place with victory against the Netherlands.
Gus Poyet made just two changes to the side that started Greece’s 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland on Friday, with Koulierakis and Ioannadis coming in for Pelkas and Giakoumakis.
The Netherlands had won eight of their last 10 meetings with Greece, losing just once during that span. Ronald Koeman also made just a couple of alterations from the Netherlands’ defeat to France last time out. Bergwijn and Wieffer came into the starting XI, with De Roon and Veerman making way. Weghorst starts despite limping off early against Les Bleus.
The Netherlands had a steady start to the game. The Dutch were awarded a penalty in the first half when Virgil Van Dijk was pulled down inside the penalty area. After a lengthy delay because of VAR check, Weghorst stepped up to take the spot-kick. But Vlachodimos guesses correctly to keep him out, keeping the score 0-0 at the end of first half.
The Dutch received another penalty at the end of second half and this time Van Dijk made no mistake in his placement.
Netherlands vs Greece XI
Netherlands XI – Bart Verbruggen; Lutsharel Geertruida, Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake; Denzel Dumfries, Mats Wieffer, Tijjani Reijnders, Quilindschy Hartman; Xavi Simons, Wout Weghorst, Steven Bergwijn.
Greece XI – Odisseas Vlachodimos; Lazaros Rota, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Panagiotis Retsos, Konstantinos Koulierakis; Anastasios Bakasetas, Dimitrios Kourbelis, Petros Mantalos; Giorgos Masouras, Fotis Ioannidis, Kostas Tsimikas.
