Netherlands football coach De Boer 'dreaming out loud' of the Euro 2020 trophy
The manager of the Dutch men’s national football team said he would be pleased if Oranje secured a spot among the best four teams at Euro 2020. Frank de Boer also said that the Netherlands was ultimately targeting the title, Nu.nl reported. In their next match, Oranje are set to take on Czech Republic in the 1/8 final game in the Hungarian capital Budapest on Sunday from 6 p.m.
"When can we consider this European Championship successful? If we get to the last four, then we can say we have done well," De Boer said at the press conference in the run-up to the game. Top performing Dutch football teams in the past have been granted a celebratory floating parade on the Amsterdam canals, something De Boer said he wanted as a reward this year.
"Ultimately we want to go through the canals on a boat, that is the absolute goal. We do not only want to reach the final but also win. Then we can say the tournament was completely successful," he concluded.
The coach acknowledged the competition in the tournament was strong and stressed that the team would have to put on a flawless performance in order to be able to take away the trophy. "There are six, seven teams who also think they can become European champions. We have the qualities to win the tournament, but then everything has to be on point."
The coach commented on the fact that Oranje has landed in what seems to be the more favorable half of the draw. The next opponent, Czech Republic, places 40th in the FIFA ranking, the lowest of all remaining teams in the competition. In a prospective quarterfinal game, Oranje would face Denmark, which dominated Wales 4-0 in Amsterdam on Saturday.
Denmark is ranked 10th by FIFA. The Netherlands is ranked 16th.
De Boer did not want to look too far ahead. "We are now only looking at the Czech Republic and no further. We will already have a tough job with the Czechs," he said.
"What I find favorable is the amount of time we have on the road to the final. We have now had almost a week to prepare for the eighth final and if we advance we have five days. That is ideal. Which opponent we are facing is just a side issue.
