Netherlands v Scotland
Wednesday, 2 June 2021, kick-off 7.45pm
Estadio Algarve, Algarve, Portugal

On Wednesday, Scotland’s preparations for the EUROS kick-off in earnest against the Netherlands in Portugal where the Dutch side are based for their pre tournament training camp.

Scotland arrived last Thursday in La Finca, Spain, where the squad trained, preparing for the double header against Netherlands and Luxembourg before travelling to Middlesbrough for the EUROS.

The Netherlands are currently ranked 16th in the world and go into the match following a triple header in March which saw them defeat Gibraltar and Latvia but lose 4-2 to Turkey.

Team news

Steve Clarke will be without John Fleck who tested positive for COVID-19. John McGinn, Che Adams, Nathan Patterson, David Marshall, Stephen O'Donnell and Grant Hanley have also not travelled to Portugal as a precaution.


David Turnbull and Nathan Patterson will be eying their first caps for their country having been called up for the first time.

Frank De Boer has named his squad for EURO 2020 including a number of household names such as Nathan Ake, Matthijs Ligt, Frenkie De Jong and Gini Wijnaldum. After this match they will play George on 6 June before their EURO 2020 opener against Ukraine in Amsterdam.

Previous meetings

The last time the two sides met each other was in 2017 at Pittodrie where Malky Mackay led Scotland in a game where Kieran Tierney captained the side for the first time. 7 of the players who started that night are included in the squad for EURO 2020.

The last time Scotland beat the Netherlands was in 2003, when James McFadden scored a famous winner in the first leg of the EURO 2004 play-off. Scotland have defeated Wednesday’s night’s opponents on six occasions, drawing four times and losing nine games.

Pre-match thoughts

Ryan Fraser has enjoyed the days in Spain so far and said: “It is great being back with Scotland and looking forward to the next five to six weeks where we’re aiming to do the best we can. We have a close knit squad and that has shown on the pitch that we will all fight for each other. It is a nice atmosphere to be in. This is not a time to relax, this is time to work hard and that gaffer has made that very clear."

Despite missing the end of Newcastle United’s season through injury Fraser is back fit and raring to go for the Scotland matches ahead.

He said: “I’ve been training for the last three or four weeks now. It’s not like I’ve not been doing anything. People thought I was coming here with no fitness but I’ve been working hard and been keeping in touch with the gaffer so he’s known the ins and out of the last six weeks. I’m fully fit and I’ll use the next two games to hopefully get minutes in and be ready.”

On Wednesday Netherlands will provide a tough test and it’s one that Ryan believes will stand them in good stead for one game in particular at the EUROS. Fraser is also looking forward to potentially playing up against one of his good friends who played in the Champions League Final at the weekend for Manchester City.

He said: “We’ll be using the Netherlands game as good preparation for the England game as they both have fantastic players who’ll have the majority of the ball. You want to get minutes in for your legs and use that as a preparation match for that one.

One of my best mates, Nathan Ake, was playing left back for them the last time we played them and I just remember coming on against him as we’re good friends. It was nice playing at Pittodrie for that game and although we were beat 1-0 on the night it was a good performance. I’m looking forward to playing Nathan again and hopefully we can play against each other again.

 “I always enjoy coming away with Scotland but especially over the last two years, under this manager. He knows how to get the best out of me so it’s now upto me to play to my best on one of the biggest stages, if I play at the Euros."

Where to watch

The match is live on Sky Sports, kick-off 7.45pm