Hofs inspires renaissance men

Nicky Hofs believes the Netherlands are continuing "to take big steps" after the latest match in their renaissance saw the Jong Oranje defeat fancied France 3-2 after extra time to reach the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final.

Cool finish
The Dutch were seemingly in disarray after losing their opening match 1-0 to Ukraine - their opponents in Sunday's final - but recovered to draw with Denmark and defeat Italy 1-0 before tonight's thrilling semi-final success against a France team who did not concede a goal in topping their pool with maximum points. Hofs who set the Dutch on their way by capping a fine run with an equally cool finish in the sixth minute, and also wrapped up the victory with his second 101 minutes later, said: "When you compare this performance to the one against Ukraine it's a huge difference and with this victory we've proved that we’ve taken some very big steps."

'Special'
Big steps do not come easy for the diminutive Feyenoord winger, and he admitted to having to call on all his reserves his energy to deftly flick in the winning goal from Stijn Schaars' precise pass. "I was exhausted but when you're so close to the final you find the extra energy you need," he said. "It's very special to beat this France team. They were the favourites so we could relax in the role of underdogs. The coach said before extra time to keep playing football and to stay organised and that's what we did. It got a bit messy near the end but luckily we held on to win 3-2."

Emanuelson confident
Urby Emanuelson, who linked superbly with the impressive Romeo Castelen down the left flank, added: "Reaching the final is a great feeling and we deserved it. France made an excellent start before we scored our first but that helped us find our way. We have now beaten Italy and France and will go to the final fully confident of victory."