The Netherlands’ press conference before the semi-final against England falls victim to Deutsche Bahn. The train is so massively delayed that the team switches to a plane.
Once again, the notoriously unreliable Deutsche Bahn is disrupting the European Championship schedule. Due to a “significant delay” in the journey from the team’s headquarters in Wolfsburg to the Dortmund venue, the Netherlands’ final press conference before the European Championship semi-final against England was cancelled at short notice.
Netherlands then takes the plane
Because the train scheduled for the afternoon was so delayed due to a track blockade, the Elftal team finally took a plane in the evening. According to the newspaper “Algmeen Dagblad”, the team was informed by the tournament organizers that an alternative train route was not possible because a train had hit an animal there. The press conference was scheduled for 7.45 p.m.
England’s national coach Gareth Southgate took a relaxed view of the situation. “We would remain calm in such a situation. The game is not until 9pm tomorrow, there is still plenty of time. They will certainly still have dinner. This will have no influence on the game,” said Southgate, whose English team arrived on time from the team camp in Blankenhain.
Usual UEFA procedure
The press conference with the coach and a player is part of the usual procedure at UEFA and FIFA for major tournaments. The European governing body announced that instead, journalists will be given access to images from an interview with head coach Koeman. The match will take place on Wednesday at 9 p.m. It can be seen on ARD and MagentaTV and can be read here.
Netherlands in the semi-finals after 2-1 win against Turkey – all highlights in the video
05:59 min
Source: Stern
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