A familiar shade of bright orange will await England in Dortmund on Wednesday after the Netherlands came from behind with two late goals to silence the deafening Turkish noise in Berlin.
Cody Gakpo scored a sloppy winner, sliding in to force Denzel Dumfries’ low cross over the far post where full-back Mert Muldur thought the Liverpool striker had fouled him.
However, there was no intervention and the goal gave the Dutch the lead, which they were able to defend during a frantic final period, which included desperate defending deep in their own area and a vital clearance from Micky van de Ven.
Turkey have brought fire and passion to this tournament with their huge support in Germany, and their depleted team gave it their all. They took the lead in the first half and came close to extending their lead before the Netherlands rallied, a more balanced and potent team once Wout Weghost came on to lead the attack.
After three tense and exciting quarter-finals, this match was blown away from the start with a riot of colour in the stands and a flurry of noise, especially in the end occupied by the passionate Turkish fans.
It was the Dutch who made the more consistent start, however. Memphis Depay created a chance within seconds, bursting into the box, weaving through the obstacles and firing high when the goal opened up for him.
Ronald Koeman’s side turned this into a period of sustained early pressing with Cody Gakpo and Xavi Simons also threatening to break through and Turkey resorting straight to their usual last-ditch style of defending.
Vincenzo Montella was without centre-back Merih Demiral, the hero of two goals in the win over Austria and who was suspended for two matches for celebrating with a hand gesture associated with a far-right organisation with links to Turkey’s ruling coalition.
Orkun Kokcu and Ismail Yuksek were also absent through suspension and six of those who played in Berlin knew that a yellow card would mean missing the semi-final if they won. Not that that seemed to have influenced their approach. There were high-speed collisions all over the pitch in a chaotic opening phase that was played at a relentless pace.
Montella lined up five at the back and gave his full-backs freedom to move out wide, while the teenage attackers Arda Guler and Kenan Yildiz drifted inside. Salih Ozcan sent in Turkey’s first shot from outside the area.
Abdulkerim Bardakci stretched to meet Hakan Calhanoglu’s free-kick but was unable to direct it on target. Yildiz fired high and Turkey found their rhythm and began to dominate from the middle of the first half.
Each attack was accompanied by eruptions of noise, and although the frenetic pace of the fighting slowed at times, the savage atmosphere refused to abate.
Then came the first goal, headed in by Samet Akaydin after a delightful and provocative cross from Guler. The ball came after a corner that the Dutch had given away unnecessarily. Denzel Dumfries sent the ball towards the goal line expecting a goal kick, not realising that the ball had been deflected off by Nathan Ake.
Virgil van Dijk headed the opening corner but it only reached Guler, who put down his right foot and sent the ball wide.
Goalkeeper Bart Vergruggen was tempted to come off his line only to find the cross was heading away from him and the Dutch were overloaded at the far post, where Fenerbache centre-back Akaydin rose from the crowd of white shirts to head home from close range.
The Netherlands, who had barely made it through the group and found form with a 3-0 win over Romania, responded before the break but without testing Mert Gunok, the Turkish goalkeeper who made that spectacular save to preserve victory against Austria.
Steven Bergwijn burst inside from his position on the right wing and fired high. On the left, Gakpo again failed to produce anything significant. Koeman’s reaction was to take off Burnley’s Wout Weghorst at half-time.
Bergwijn was substituted and Koeman’s side looked happier with the centre leading the attacking line. They settled quickly in the second half and Weghorst headed a ball towards Depay, who slid across at full speed but was unable to score.
Replays suggested Weghorst might have been offside, but there was no flag and the game lifted the Dutch spirits. The orange team made their voice heard. Akaydin flicked on Gakpo’s cross that went just wide of his own goal.
But the Turks counterattacked quickly, in a direct and threatening manner. Ake, who was playing his 50th international cap, was shown a yellow card for a foul on Guler as the Turks rushed to chase down a pass from Baris Yildiz.
The ball was 30 metres from goal, but Guler lunged at goal and slotted it in with his left foot, beating the defensive barrier. The 19-year-old Real Madrid striker is a great talent with the ball.
Six minutes later, Gakpo was late to arrive at the far post to force a second from Dumfries’ low cross and the Dutch headed for Dortmund.
