Netherlands can go far at Euro 2024, says De Ligt

Matthijs De Ligt believes the Netherlands have every chance of claiming their first international trophy since 1988 at Euro 2024.

De Ligt, who will be featuring in his third major tournament for the Oranje in Germany, did not feature in the final four games of their qualifying campaign through injury.

The 24-year-old endured another stop-start season with Bayern Munich, making 22 appearances in the Bundesliga and was left on the bench as the Netherlands concluded their preparations for the competition against Iceland earlier this week.

De Ligt has made 45 appearances for his country and is one of the more experienced players within Ronald Koeman’s ranks heading into the tournament despite his age.

However, De Ligt is confident that the selected 26-man group has more than enough to deal with the pressures of tournament football.

“It’s good that we have a lot of guys at top teams in Europe,” he said ahead of their Group D opener against Poland in Hamburg on Sunday.

“That’s very important for a tournament like this because it means we have the necessary experience playing against top players every three to four days.

“We have a lot of quality across the board. We have to take it game by game but I think we can certainly go far.”

Matthijs de Ligt fans #NothingLikeOranje #CreateHistory pic.twitter.com/oNeD7A4fUL

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The Netherlands have had to deal with a number of injuries leading up to the tournament, with Barcelona’s Frenkie De Jong the latest to withdraw from the squad.

While the Oranje have an array of talent within their group, De Ligt believes not having a standout player could prove to be an advantage heading into their Euro 2024 campaign.

“It means that everyone has their nose on the same starting line and are all pulling in the same direction.

“We have a nice, good group. It’s about performance. We are working well on that. We have a group that can grow closer together, on and off the field.”