Match Preview: Netherlands won’t take a knee, but will they take the three points against Ukraine?

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Netherlands will not take the knee ahead of their European Championship opener against Ukraine on Sunday, captain Georginio Wijnaldum said on the eve of the game.

He said it was a team decision not to join Belgium, world champions France, England and Wales in stating plans to kneel before kickoff to highlight racial injustice.

“We have talked about that but we decided not to do this. We’re trying to bring attention to the issue in a different way,” Wijnaldum told a news conference.

“Actually, only the players who play in England are used to this,” added the midfielder, who is leaving Liverpool for Paris Saint-Germain when his contract expires on June 30.

“It was quite difficult because we also want to contribute to this discussion. But we are with the Dutch football association who have started a project against racism.”

The start of the Euros has been overshadowed by off-field conflict over the anti-racism gesture which was started by American NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and popularised by the Black Lives Matter movement.

Soccer’s European governing body UEFA said it was up to each team to decide whether to take the knee and to inform the referee in advance of a match, a move away from its long-standing stance of opposing political protests.

Ukraine manager Andriy Shevchenko said on Saturday his team would try to strike the right balance between attack and defence in their opening Euro 2020 match against a dynamic Netherlands side whose talent needed to be respected.

“They show good results on the European level. This is a team we respect,” Shevchenko told reporters a day before Ukraine face the Netherlands in Amsterdam. “We are ready for them.”

Ukraine, ranked 24th in the world, face a rejuvenated Dutch side, ranked 16th, that is returning to a major tournament after missing the last Euros in France and the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“Soccer requires striking the right balance between attack and defence,” said Shevchenko, a former Chelsea striker. “There is always a chance in football and we will have a chance to get the result we deserve.”

Ukraine made headlines this week after it unveiled a team shirt for the tournament with a dotted outline of the map of Ukraine on it that includes the Russian-annexed Crimea.

Russia formally objected to UEFA, but European soccer’s governing body told Ukraine on Thursday it could keep the map. It said, however, that the team needed to remove the phrase “Glory to the heroes” from the inside of the shirt because it has “historical and military” connotations.

Shevchenko shrugged off the controversy and said his players were more focused on the tournament than on objections to their kit.

“This is a dream we are fulfilling by playing at the Euro,” said Shevchenko. “We don’t need any more motivations at this tournament.”
Ukraine also face Austria and North Macedonia in Group C.

2 years ago