We’re on the verge of the greatest international sports summer ever! We have:

• Copa América
• Euro 2020
• CONCACAF Gold Cup
• Tokyo Olympic Games

And it all starts on June 11, 2021 with the European Soccer (Football) championships aka Euro 2020!

Yes, it is 2021 but they decided to keep the name, ok?

From now until the tourney starts, we’ll be giving you previews for every country in Euro 2020, DFO-style, of course. We will also provide previews of all the Copa América countries as the Copa América starts on June 13, 2021 right after Euro 2020 starts.

Euro 2020 will be broadcast in English on ESPN in the United States and on TSN in Canada. Univisión has the Spanish language rights in the US and TVA has the French language rights in Canada. I don’t have the handy schedule imbedded because I have no idea how to do it nor interest in figuring out how to copy it over from the Devil’s template – block editor.

Today’s team is: The Netherlands

Country ‘Fun’ Facts:

The only things open on Christmas Day are brown cafes, bad sex shops, and fast food.

They are indeed a tall people, I am 6’2 and felt real small.

The bike thing.

Raw fish in their form is actually quite tasty.

Jenever is a great aperitif.

The Heineken tour used to be free and you had to be there in the 1st tour group and you could drink for hours for free while you waited for the last tours to finish.

Team Schedule:

The Netherlands is in a group with the Ukraine, Austria, and North Macedonia all times Euro local;

• The Netherlands v Ukraine (9 pm – Amsterdam)
• The Netherlands v Austria (9 pm – Amsterdam)
• The Netherlands v North Macedonia (6 pm – Amsterdam)

Team Preview / Top Players:

The list I used for reference was their 36 man provisional squad (I mean there is a Fulham player on there and he won’t make the team). First thing is first, this is not the Dutch team that we are used to seeing year after year. They’re built very young and perhaps their youth can fix what has plagued the National team for years, that being stuck in a system that the game has outgrown. The Dutch have been consistently underwhelming in big tournaments this is fact.

Up front we have Memphis Depay who underperformed during his brief stint in England. The other 3 guys I can say I have never heard of, Weghorst (Wolfsburg), Malen (PSV), du Jong (Sevilla). Goals need to come from somwehre and I don’t see a lot there.

The midfield has an English flavoUr with El Ghazi (Villa), Bergwijn (Spurs), and the under utilized van de Beek (Man U). The best of the bunch in midfield is Barcelona’s deJong so they seem very solid in the middle.

The back 4 is very expensive with de Ligt (Juve), de Vrij (Inter), Ake (Man City). That is a solid base to attack from and will not be susceptible to rookie mistakes.

Their keeper is some tall blonde guy, book it.

Best result when you Google Image Search “Hot [Country] food”:

I went on a food tour the last time I was in Amsterdam which was absolutely superb, I highly recommend it if you ever go. It was the 1st day of herring season so everything was very fresh and we decided to give it a go. The fish stops are normally located on bridges over the canals. You know, on your way home and need to eat 2 fillets of raw fish, well you are in luck. The fishmonger responsible was a beauty. He had to prepare 2 platters displayed below but in between building the two he went out back for a joint with one of his buddies and invited me. He also gave the whole tour a bunch of moonshine that he was clearly drinking repeatedly. The fish was really creamy and the onions and pickles made it quite tasty. I could have been fine with just one fillet as two was a lot.

Also, when in Amsterdam you have to go to Febo (high or not). Fast food while not having to speak to a human, 24 hours of wasted (or not) goodness. These kiosks are all over the cities and surprisingly they are quite fresh because so many people use them. Burgers, croquettes, fries, croquetteburgers, you can fine more information here.

Litre, Have you ever been to this country?

Boy have I ever. I’ve visited the Netherlands I think 7 times and it’s awesome for so many different reasons.

I first visited in 2000 as a twenty something backpacker and it was the land of my dreams. Smoke weed, drink coffee, go to galleries, watch a futbol match, drink beer, repeat.

Visited again in 2001 (see above)

Visited for Christmas 2005, that was by far the strangest Christmas in my life. I travelled with 2 guys who I worked with in Scotland. One gentleman was a practicing Catholic so on Christmas Day when he strolled back to the hostel in the evening I asked how his day went? He told me that his day went like this, brown cafe, mass, “massage”, called his mom in Malaysia, bite to eat, hooker, and back to the hostel.

Visited in 2007, I stayed in Haarlem and got to see a different side of the Netherlands. YOU COULD HAVE A CIGARETTE AT YOUR TABLE IN BETWEEN COURSES.

Visited in 2010, fresh off a divorce, 5 days and I remember absolutely nothing except sharing a room with Norwegian ravers who would dress up in all white every evening.

Visited in 2012 and the weed scene and freedoms of Amsterdam were dying out so I went and saw some friends up the coast. Weed is way cheaper and better quality in the rest of the country. Utrecht is also a must visit if you are ever in the area, Gouda if you like cheese.

Visited in 2016 with my now wife before the Euros. This trip was very different but was still absolutely superb. We went to small breweries, more obscure art galleries and parks. We rented an Airbnb from a gentleman who lived upstairs and was a former filmmaker. His house was 200 years old and he would get stoned with me and drink wine in the evenings.

This is a brewery he told us to go to. It mills everything still using the windmill. We were the only non-Dutch in there.

Basically I love this country.

Why you should root for this country?

• Different style of team this go around
• You like tall good looking people
• You are cool with raw fish in the right setting
• Pancakes not waffles

Why you shouldn’t root for this country?

• Ukraine is not weak!
• Austria is the birthplace of the bad mustached fellow
• You are from an imaginary place called North Macedonia

Voorspelling;

They will roll through this group and finish 1st which will get them a 3rd place team so they should move on from that.

All in all I think they will go to the semifinals if they win their group.