European Football Championship, last quarter-final.
What: France–Netherlands.
Where: New York Stadium, Rotherham.
When: Saturday at 9 p.m.
TV/radio: SVT 1/SVT Play/SR P4 Radiosporten.
+ That’s how it went in European Championship 2017
France: Second in the group and then knocked out by England in the quarter-finals.
Netherlands: European Championship gold.
+ Best EC result
France: Quarter-finals in 2009, 2013 and 2017.
Netherlands: European Championship gold 2017.
+ That’s how it went in the group
France: Got off to a flying start by beating Italy 5-1 in the opener where they were 5-0 up on the scoreboard after the first half. Then went on to defeat Belgium 2–1 and cruised to Iceland (1–1) in the final group stage match. Won the group.
Netherlands: Opened with a 1-1 draw against Sweden in the opener, then followed up with an odd-goal win over Portugal (3-2) before finishing with a convincing win over Switzerland (4-1). Second in the group behind Sweden.
+ Keep an eye on
France: Melvine Malard. A potential French joker. The 22-year-old striker, in Lyon on weekdays, had to jump into the opening two group stage matches before she was trusted from the start in an already quarter-finalist France in the last group stage match against Iceland. Malard thanked for the trust and scored after just 43 seconds, a goal that is now the fastest goal ever scored in an EC group game. Already has, despite his young age, four Champions League titles to his credit.
Netherlands: Sherida Spitse. Sure, superstar Vivianne Miedema is back after recovering from covid-19 and missing two games, but Miedema isn’t everything. 32-year-old Spitse, with Ajax as his club address, is the hub of the Dutch midfield. Spitse has played all the minutes in the EC so far and has played for the national team for 16 years now. Spitse is the first player to have made over 200 caps for the Netherlands and she is also a trailblazer in other ways as well. Nicknamed the “Orange Cannon” because of her feared shot.