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After the matches played in Group D, the last participant of the quarterfinals was revealed - it was the Netherlands, who defeated the Latvian team in the third round of matches. The Netherlands reached the next stage thanks to the Czech national team, who once again missed a goal and defeated Germany.
In the quarterfinals, the Netherlands will face the winner of Group C, Sweden, and the Czech Republic will meet Denmark. In the other two pairs, Portugal will play against England and France against Greece.
Netherlands - Latvia 3 - 0 27', 35' [1 - 0 (pen.), 2 - 0] 84' [3 - 0] In this match, the Dutch national team was satisfied with only victory, and in the first minutes, they showed that it would be very difficult for the Latvians. In the 1st minute, C. Seedorf got a bit of freedom and shot from about 18 meters, but his shot missed over the goal. A little later, Maris Verpakovskis rushed into the penalty area on the right side, but his shot was inaccurate. In the 13th minute, Ruud van Nistelrooy had a great chance, but after a perfect pass from Arjen Robben, he failed to outsmart the goalkeeper. In the 27th minute, Vitali Astafjevas brought down the Dutchman Edgar Davids in the penalty area and the referee awarded a penalty. It was successfully converted by R. van Nistelrooy, who had collapsed in the penalty area several times before. In the 35th minute, after a penalty kick, F. Cocu headed the ball perfectly to R. van Nistelrooy, who also sent the ball into the Latvian goal with his head from a few meters away. Throughout the first half, the Latvians controlled the ball only 28% of the time.
The second half began with a dangerous attack by the Latvians, but Andriy Rubins' shot was deflected by the Dutch goalkeeper. After this incident, the game calmed down, but the Dutch continued to press the opponents. In the 50th minute, R. van Nistelrooy failed to score from a few meters away.
In the 84th minute, after coming on as a substitute, Dutchman Roy Makaay deceived the defender and scored the third goal. This goal finally dashed all Latvian hopes of reaching the quarterfinals.
Germany - Czech Republic 1 - 2 21' [1 - 0] 30' [1 - 1] 77' [1 - 2] Despite the fact that the coach of the Czech national team, Karel Bruckner, allowed most of the main lineup players to rest in this match, the first real chance was created by the Czechs - Marek Heinz passed the ball excellently to Roman Tyce, and thanks to excellent play by Oliver Kahn, the Germans managed to avoid bigger trouble. In the 21st minute, after a Czech mistake, German Michael Ballack scored a great goal into the top corner of the goal from about 17 meters. Five minutes later, Bernd Schneider shot from distance, but his shot was easily caught by goalkeeper Jaromir Blazek. In the 30th minute, Marek Heinz scored a fantastic penalty goal from 25 meters, leaving no chance for Oliver Kahn. During the added time of the first half, the Germans created several real chances, but the Czechs managed to defend.
At the beginning of the second half, a header by Wroclaw Lech wrapped around the Germans, saved by the excellent play of Oliver Kahn. In the 66th minute, Michael Ballack had a great chance, but after his shot from about 16 meters, the ball hit the Czech post, and the goalkeeper also blocked Bernd Schneider's unsuccessful follow-up shot. The Germans' pressure did not subside, and after a few minutes, Tomas Hubschman saved the Czechs, knocking the ball off the goal line after a header by defender Christian Worns. In the 76th minute, Milan Baros broke through into the penalty area, and although his first shot was saved by Oliver Kahn, the striker did not miss the second time and put the Czechs ahead 2-1. In the remaining time, the world vice-champions Germans failed to create anything very dangerous, so they withdraw from the European Championship for the second consecutive time after the group stage.
