With the defending champion Italy out of the competition, only the orange team of the Netherlands was left in the huge bottom half.
All beings are equal and have equal opportunities. For the Dutch team, who have not tasted a European Championship final for 36 years, this could be a straight track to the final. Of course, the first premise is to defeat the opponent Romania in the 1/8 finals.
This is an atypical Dutch team, even compared to the 2010 World Cup runners-up team, which is contrary to the all-attacking and all-defensive philosophy.
This is a Dutch team with a first-class defense, second-rate midfielder, and third-rate striker, but even so, the defense led by Van Dijk still conceded 4 goals in the group stage, especially in the final round of the group top match with Austria.
In the group stage, the Dutch team only won the third place in the group with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss, which can only be regarded as unsatisfactory. However, by chance, they were lucky enough to avoid all the favourites and fell into the bottom half of the bracket, where the only possible opponent on the final was England.
The first problem for the Dutch team is how to score goals. In the past, the luxurious forward line that was proud of it can now only be "no general in Shu, Liao has become a pioneer", and whether Depay can act as the fulcrum of the front court will determine how far the Dutch team can go.
De Jong's absence further weakened the Dutch team's forward power. The Dutch team's offense can only rely on Gakpo and Simons' side breakthroughs, Depay as the fulcrum of the front court, and Weghorst in the back, efficient and three-dimensional, although not as good as the style of the heyday, but can also be dealt with.
Romania is the least expensive team in this European Cup, with a total value of only 92 million euros, but this does not mean that Romania is a soft persimmon - to win the group from Belgium, Romania's strength should not be underestimated.
In the group stage, the Romanian team won 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss, and the first game defeated the Ukrainian team 3-0 to lay the qualification advantage, the second game Belgium team had reservations, and the final game Snowcheck team played a tacit goal. Although it is real and secretive, the Balkan male yellow rose has always been thorny, and it will definitely go all out in the knockout round.
So, it's a close match, but the Dutch have a slightly better chance of winning.
In the last 9 meetings between the two teams, the Netherlands has crushed the Romanian team with a record of 7 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, but the last official match between the two teams was the 2014 World Cup European qualifiers, when the Dutch team completed the double with a total score of 8-1 over two legs home and away; The most recent meeting was a friendly in 2017, where the Netherlands won 3-0.
Whether it is the strength on paper, or the historical record, or even the tactical play, the Dutch team has an absolute advantage. After the group stage, there were many rumours that the Dutch team deliberately fell into the bottom half of the group to avoid the top half of the group. Now it seems that it is eight or nine and ten.
Compared to the favourites, this matchup may be a lot less concerned, but for the Dutch team, the more low-key and less attention the better, before meeting England, the Dutch team is the more advantageous side, as for the semi-finals, it is one word: fight.
The Dutchman, who believes in the flight, advances to the quarterfinals.