Dutch delighted at 'second chance'

Having braved the blistering Portuguese heat, Foppe de Haan will tackle another force of nature in today's UEFA European Under-21 Championship semi-final in Braga against France. The Netherlands coach went running in the midday sun following his eve-of-match press conference, in the expectation that his inconsistent team have now seen the light in this competition.

Late redemption
While France conclusively underlined their claim to succeed Italy as European champions by winning all three Group A games, the Netherlands remained bottom of Group B until 16 minutes from the end of their third match when Daniël de Ridder's goal secured three points and second place in the section. With their first victory coming exactly when a win was needed, the Jong Oranje are ready for knockout football according to De Haan.

'Second chance'
"It helped that we had to win and it also gave us confidence," he said. "We have been given a second chance - we now know what level we need to be at. We had a bad start against Ukraine, we were not good enough against Denmark, and we were OK against Italy. It's a pity we started as we did as otherwise we would have won the group. Now we know what it is to play in a tournament like this and we know you have to win. That's the difficulty for Dutch teams – a team like Italy play to win, while we play because we want to play football."

Schaars struggling
The temptation for De Haan will be to keep a winning team, although captain and midfield mainstay Stijn Schaars is a slight doubt. "Stijn has an injury to his hip so we'll have to see how he is, and another player is a little bit sick, but normally we would play in the same way we did against Italy," the coach added.

Le Tallec setback
France's preparations have been hit by the news that striker Anthony Le Tallec has succumbed to the groin injury which has troubled him all tournament. On the plus side, defender Jacques Faty is fit after sitting out one match with a hamstring strain. Whatever the personnel, though, Les Bleuets have been irresistible here in Portugal. With 20 of his 22-man squad having been used, it is as if coach René Girard has two first XIs at his disposal.

'Cup football'
Following the scalps of Portugal, Germany, and Serbia and Montenegro, the rather different challenge of a one-off tie awaits many people's title favourites. "Now it's cup football," Girard said. "We have had a good competition but as of Thursday, it's a different ball game. It will be a new test." And against surprise opponents. "We were expecting to play Italy, but we've got Holland. Their style is to keep the ball and to make the other team run. They play good football and it is no mean feat to beat the Italians. We will have to be at our best. Up until now, we have been up against athletic teams. Now we will encounter a brand of football that we haven't seen very much in this competition."