The Netherlands are fancied to beat Croatia when they meet in the final four of the UEFA Nations League.
Hosts the Netherlands face Croatia in Rotterdam on Wednesday in the first semi-final, while Spain and Italy clash in Enschede on Thursday, ahead of Sunday’s final.
BET ON THE UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE
Portugal and France are the previous winners of the event.
The Netherlands’ last success came in the 1988 European Championship.
“We can write history,” coach Ronald Koeman told reporters Saturday.
“It was always about a European Championship or World Cup, but now the Nations League has been added.
“They are still talking about 1988, when there were eight teams (in the tournament). That says it all.”
One player to watch will be Cody Gakpo, now a striker and looking to fill the boots of Memphis Depay – who is out injured.
“I have become convinced that being a striker suits me,” said Gakpo, adding that several coaches had previously tried to convince him to make the switch but he had resisted.
“Guus Hiddink was the first. He spent a while at PSV as a sounding board, saw me play and said: ‘You have to become a striker or a false No 9’. I didn’t want to believe it then. And then when Roger Schmidt said the same thing later at PSV when he was coach, I was even more stubborn. It felt good on the left flank.
“But at the last World Cup, I was already more central on the field and at Liverpool permanently in the past six months. It’s been good. I’m excited now to get better in the position in the near future, for the club as well as the national team.”
“Now that I’m playing at Liverpool I think it’s a nice position,” he told reporters on Sunday.
Defender Matthijs de Ligt suffered a calf injury in training with the Netherlands and on Monday withdrew from the squad.
Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol has failed to recover from injury and will miss this week’s Nations League finals in the Netherlands.
The 21-year-old Dion Drena Beljo, who plays in the Bundesliga for Augsburg, has been named as the replacement in the 23-man squad.