Boost for England? Netherlands hit by travel chaos ahead of Euro 2024 semi-final meeting with Three Lions as UEFA release statement

Ronald Koeman and his players were scheduled to travel from Wolfsburg to Dortmund on Tuesday ahead of their meeting with the Three Lions on Wednesday. However, a blockage on the train tracks halted their journey and the squad have now been forced to make the trip via plane after a police escort guided them to the airport.

The Oranje will now fly to Dortmund at 8.20pm local time resulting in the scheduled press conference with Koeman and defender Nathan Ake being called off. Gareth Southgate's England team are already in Dortmund, having travelled by plane earlier on.

An update from UEFA confirmed the disruption, reading: "Due to disruption of the Netherlands planned team travel to Dortmund, their arrival time has been significantly delayed and therefore no MD-1 press conference will take place. Footage from an interview with the head coach Ronald Koeman will be made available [on Tuesday evening] on the UEFA Media Channel."

Speaking to NOS, Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman revealed the train delay was caused by a bird of all things. However, Koeman insisted the disruption would not cause any issues come Wednesday.

"Strange, but no problem at all. We were in the bus in front of the hotel, we hadn't left yet. The players were able to rest for two to two-and-a-half hours in the hotel. Otherwise they would have had to do that on the train. In the end, the trip was shorter than by train. So it was better to get here this way. It's fine," he said.

Koeman will hope that the travel chaos does not affect his team's preparations for the clash against Gareth Southgate's side on Wednesday. The other semi-final between France and Spain will go ahead on Tuesday.