Euro 2020: Nigel de Jong slams Netherlands performance in shock Czech Republic defeat

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Euro 2020: Nigel de Jong slams Netherlands performance in shock Czech Republic defeat

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Netherlands limped out of Euro 2020 on Sunday in Budapest (Picture: Getty Images)Nigel de Jong has accused Netherlands of lacking intensity, aggression, mentality and character after they suffered a shock 2-0 defeat to Czech Republic in the last 16 of Euro 2020 on Sunday.
The Dutch had stormed through the group stage and were clear favourites to beat the Czechs but turned in a limp display in Budapest.
It was a level game until Matthijs de Ligt was shown a red card for handball 55 minutes into the contest and from there the Dutch wilted while the Czechs took full advantage of the situation.
Tomas Holes opened the scoring before setting up Patrik Schick to score the second and book a quarter-final spot against Denmark for Czech Republic.
De Jong, who won 81 caps for Netherlands, was left frustrated by how his former side reacted to the red card for the defender. not showing enough fighting spirit to deal with the adversity.
‘Of course I’m disappointed as I see my country crash out of the Euros,’ De Jong said on ITV. ‘It was fully deserved by the Czechs, you’ve got to give it to them, the way they played in the second half.
More: Euro 2020

‘It was a poor display in the second half by the Netherlands, especially after the red card.
‘It was a lack of intensity, lack of aggression, lack of mentality. Sometimes you see when there’s a red card a team gets together and they can play even better with t10 men, but today it wasn’t meant to be and it was a poor display from the Netherlands.’

Tomas Holes (second right) opened the scoring for Czech Republic (Picture: Getty Images)The former Manchester City midfielder felt manager Frank de Boer failed to react properly to the red card and there was also a lack of a clear leader on the pitch to help the side get through the tricky situation.
‘There was no belief. I think after the red card the belief was gone,’ he said. ‘There was no proper belief to go forward or win the game. There was a lack of intensity, belief and character.
‘This is the time when we really missed a proper leader who can say, “listen guys, no matter what happens we go out with a bang or we go out fighting.”‘

MORE : 10-man Netherlands dumped out of Euro 2020 by Czech Republic

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