- Ian Maatsen was called up for the Euros too late
- However, the versatile defender failed to make it onto the field in Germany.
- Listen to It’s all just beginning! DAILY EUROS: England penalty was a ‘scandalous decision’ but the Three Lions finally came through
Ian Maatsen was quick to respond to Ronald Koeman’s call-up when he was called up to the Netherlands squad for the European Championship at the last minute.
However, despite cancelling some much-needed days off with his partner on a glamorous-looking yacht, the former Chelsea star failed to gain a single minute of action in Germany.
Maatsen had initially been left out of the squad after his omission became known just three days before his participation in the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund.
In an effort to get over the bad news, the then Chelsea full-back travelled to Mykonos with his girlfriend, Emely Tuinder, and spent time relaxing on a yacht worth more than £500,000.
However, his brief spell in the sun was cut short when Teun Koopmeiners was forced out of Koeman’s squad through injury, with the Dutch manager turning to Maatsen to replace him.
Ian Maatsen was enjoying his holiday in Mykonos when the phone rang for an international service.
The 22-year-old was spending time on the £500,000 yacht with his girlfriend, Emely Tuinder.
However, the Aston Villa defender was not used by Ronald Koeman in Germany and is yet to make his debut.
However, it was not exactly the call-up the 22-year-old had hoped for after being left on the bench for every game in the competition.
Maatsen has yet to make his debut for the national team after having played a number of matches at various youth levels.
Having left Chelsea on loan to Borussia Dortmund in January, Maatsen has joined Aston Villa from Stamford Bridge and will link up with Unai Emery’s side upon their return from the tournament.
As well as losing Koopmeiners, Koeman’s midfield took another blow when Frenkie de Jong was forced off after failing to recover from an ankle problem.
The Dutch team reached the semi-finals perhaps against expectations in Germany.
After finishing third in Group D, behind Austria and France, they beat Romania 3-0 and Turkey 2-1 in the round of 16 and quarter-finals respectively.
England proved too tough a test, however, and the Three Lions emerged 2-1 victorious after Ollie Watkins scored the 91st-minute winner on Wednesday night to eliminate the Netherlands.
However, the Dutch media were quick to criticise the result. with former national team star Rafael van der Vaart ranting against Gareth Southgateside of.
There was significant anger in the Dutch media over England’s first-half penalty.
Maatsen and the Netherlands may have defied expectations by reaching the quarter-finals, but fell at the final hurdle.
“What a shitty team they are,” he fumed to Dutch broadcaster NOS. “Little by little, they didn’t want to do anything anymore.”
“They have top-class players on the pitch. We didn’t do much either. We had some chances. We could have done a lot more.”
There was understandable outrage over England’s first-half penalty, when Denzel Dumfries was adjudged to have fouled Kane following a VAR review.
VI led the furious reaction by pointing to a possible handball by Bukayo Saka in the build-up to the spot-kick, highlighting how “the international press was unanimous about the timing of the Dumfries penalty”, while AD expressed “surprise in England” over the decision, while others called it “embarrassing”.
