Down to 10 men after Matthijs de Ligt’s red card, Frank de Boer’s side panicked and unravelled against zesty foes
Farewell then, the Netherlands 2021. Never mind total football: this was a total collapse. And not just a simple collapse, but an abject, jaw-dropping collapse, the kind of collapse you can see happening in front of you in real time, like a slow-motion car crash.
Thrown by the second half dismissal of Matthijs de Ligt, a Dutch team that came romping out of the blocks in Budapest, all regal vim and pep, was transformed at a stroke into a sagging orange soufflé.
Related: Czechs bounce into last eight after Matthijs de Ligt sparks Dutch implosion
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