Good evening! Welcome to live coverage of Netherlands versus Ukraine in Group C of the European Championship. It’s the first of three home games for the Dutch at the Johann Cruyff Arena, as the continue to recuperate from missing out on Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. For the Ukraine, they’re looking to bounce back from a miserable Euro 2016 where they lost all three matches and didn’t even register a goal. Two teams in need of some good news, then; let’s see how it pans out. Team news to follow from Amsterdam shortly.
Euro 2024 / Group Stage
Johan Cruijff ArenA / 13.06.2021
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- G. Wijnaldum(52')
- W. Weghorst(58')
- D. Dumfries(85')
- A. Yarmolenko(75')
- R. Yaremchuk(79')
Live
Live Updates
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Updated 13/06/2021 at 20:52 GMT
13'
That's your lot for Zubkov, who can't continue and is replaced by Marlos.
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On
Marlos
Ukraine
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Off
O. Zubkov
Ukraine
Fouls1
11'
Zubkov is in a bit of bother here, and hobbles to the sideline to get checked over.
10'
Malinovsky runs into a chasm of space down the middle of the pitch, getting to within 25 yards of the Dutch goal before walloping a shot that de Vrij blocks. It feels like a goal is in the post here, one way or the other.
7'
CHANCE! Dumfries gets away down the right from a long ball. He cuts it back to Wijnaldum on the edge of the area, who blazes his shot a yard over the bar. What a start! I think de Roon ran slightly across Wijnaldum's line them and put him off slightly.
6'
GOOD SAVE! Pinball in the Ukrainian area now! Wijnaldum eventually composes play to lay it off to Dumfries on the right of the area, and his low shot is saved by a sprawling Bushchan.
4'
Blimey, this is open so far. Yarmolenko cuts in from the right for the Ukraine, and another low cross is awkwardly turned behind for a corner by de Vrij.
2'
CHANCE! A low ball into the Dutch box causes panic, but they soon gather themselves and Depay goes on a 50 yard gallop from his own half all the way to the edge of the Ukrainian area. He shoots low with his left, and Bushchan is down smartly to save.
1st Half
1'
Peep, we're off!
19:55
The teams are out, and we're just going through the anthems. Your referee tonight is Felix Brych
19:50
There's an absolute sea of orange, as you'd expect, in the Johann Cruyff Arena. there are around 16,000 in, and the atmosphere sounds pretty lively.
19:46
A quick recap on events earlier today: England beat Croatia 1-0 in the opening match of Group D, courtesy of a Raheem Sterling goal. More pertinently for our two sides tonight, Austria beat North Macedonia 3-1 in Bucharest to gain early control of Group C.
19:40
On ITV they're showing some clips of the one and only international trophy the Dutch have ever won, the 1988 European Championship in West Germany. That feels like a slightly amazing stat, given the players they've had in the meantime. That day they beat the USSR, a team composed mostly of Ukrainian players and coached by the great Valeriy Lobanovskyi.
19:35
Ukraine have never beaten the Netherlands in international competition. They've met just twice, both in friendlies just over ten years ago, with the Dutch winning once and the other match ending in a draw.
19:31
Andriy Shevchenko is one of the Ukraine's greatest ever players, and has scored more goals than anyone for the national side. Now he's in charge of it, and looking to rekindle the halcyon days of 2006 when he fired them to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Since then, the Ukraine have only qualified for two tournaments; they crashed out in the first round of the Euros they co-hosted in 2012, before slumping to three miserable defeats in the group stage in France four years later.
19:26
So just where are the Dutch, exactly? Frank de Boer's team have been high profile absentees from recent international tournaments, but a home group stage here could be the springboard to propel them into the more familiar, latter stages of a major championship. They are generally ranked in the pack of teams just behind the favourites and could reach the quarters at least if they top Group C.
19:21
The major absentee for the Ukraine tonight is wide player Viktor Tsygankov, who has a knacked ankle and doesn't make the bench. Manchester City's Oleksandr Zinchenko starts on the left of a midfield three, while up front Andriy Yarmolenko and Oleksandr Zubkov flank Roman Yaremchuk in attack.
19:15
Maarten Stekelenberg will start in goal for the Netherlands after Jasper Cillissen withdrew from the squad after a positive Covid-19 test. In the centre of defence Stefan de Vrij is now the focal point due to the long-term absence of Virgil van Dijk, but Matthijs De Ligt is not fit enough to join him today. The revitalised Memphis Depay, who scored six goals in qualification, leads the attack.
19:11
The Ukraine line up as follows, in a 4-3-3: Bushchan; Karavaev, Zabarnyi, Matvienko, Mykolenko; Malinovsky; Sydorchuk, Zinchenko; Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk, Zubkov.
19:05
Here's your Dutch team for the evening: