Micky van de Ven backs Dutch defenders to handle England front-line

England will square off against Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-finals.

The Netherlands’ captain, Micky van de Ven, is adamant that they can handle Bukayo Saka and Co. when they play England in the Euro 2024 semifinal on Wednesday.

“Virgil van Dijk and Nathan Ake have a lot of pace too, and I am sure they can handle him,” said Micky van de Ven. He further added, “Saka is a wonderful football player with lots of pace.”

In each of his nation’s five Euros games, the Dutch defender has started from the bench. During their quarterfinal victory against Turkey, he made an important block.

However, because of his speed, he declined to say whether Ronald Koeman will start him in the starting lineup for Wednesday’s match in Dortmund.

Van de Van added: “I know Saka very well from him playing at Arsenal. I faced him twice. We will see if the manager will start me.“

When asked who was faster—Saka or the Tottenham player—the latter answered in the affirmative. Cody Gakpo then interrupted, saying, “Micky is the fastest player ever in the Premier League.”

Van van Ven, who played in January against Brentford, recorded the fastest-ever speed by a Premier League player with a peak speed of 37.38 km/h (23.23 mph), said: “That’s hard to say but if you look at the data, I think you know the answer.”

Gakpo, who has been a mainstay for Ronald Koeman‘s team in Germany, where he has scored three goals in their journey to the final four, has conceded that he prefers to operate down the left instead of playing as a striker.

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