The Dutch Team’s plan was completely unexpected when faced with a serious incident, preventing them from having a training session at Signal Iduna Park before the EURO 2024 semi-finals.The Dutch team will clash with the England team at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund at 2:00 a.m. on July 11 (Vietnam time). While coach Southgate and his students were soon on the field to prepare for the important match, the “Orange Cyclone” encountered big trouble on their travel route.
According to the original plan, the Dutch Team will travel from the resort in Wolfsburg to Dortmund by rail in about 3 hours and have a practice session at Signal Iduna Park at 7:45 p.m. (local time) on July 9. . However, this plan was seriously affected when the German railway system encountered problems.
Coach Ronald Koeman and the players were stuck for hours at the station in crowded conditions and hot weather up to 33 degrees Celsius, making everyone feel uncomfortable. The situation became worse when the train from Wolfsburg to Dortmund was canceled due to an animal collision on the tracks.
According to information from the station, this incident takes time to clean up and repair, leading to it lasting longer than expected. The Dutch team was forced to change plans and eventually had to use a plane to get to Dortmund. The flight departed at 8:20 p.m., which meant they did not have a preparatory practice session at Signal Iduna Park.
Coach Ronald Koeman’s pre-match press conference also had to be switched to an online press conference. Not being familiar with the field is a big limitation for the Dutch Team, while Team England benefits from having a preparatory practice session at Signal Iduna Park before the opponent arrives in Dortmund.
The German government and UEFA are receiving a lot of criticism for the railway system problem since the beginning of the season. This incident also shows management and service overload when too many people use public transportation to move between cities.