Matthijs de Ligt was distraught after the Juventus defender saw red in the Netherlands’ Euro 2020 defeat to the Czech Republic. ‘We lost because of what I did.’
The centre-back had made a heroic block on Verona midfielder Antonin Barak, but then turned to villain with a straight red card for handball when preventing Patrik Schick from going clear on goal.
The Dutch went on to lose 2-0 with goals from Tomas Holes and Schick, crashing out of Euro 2020 at the Round of 16.
“Obviously, it hurts,” De Ligt told NOS TV.
“Fundamentally, we lost the game because of what I did. With hindsight, I shouldn’t have let the ball bounce. I felt like we had the game under control and had a few chances, especially in the first half.
“I didn’t even have the sensation that the Czechs were creating many scoring opportunities, but obviously the red card made the difference.”
Remarkably, the Netherlands failed to get a single shot on target throughout the entire match.
De Ligt perhaps should’ve seen trouble coming, because the Dutch have now received four red cards in European Championship games – two of them against Czechoslovakia in 1976 and two against the Czech Republic in 2004 and 2020.
𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠!
Just 25 seconds after Vaclik bravely denies both Malen and Depay, De Ligt handles to stop Schick racing through on goal…
…after a VAR check, the #NED defender is sent off! #NEDCZE | #ITVFootball | #Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/W08wthTQic
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 27, 2021