Holland 3 Italy 0
not in 30 years have Holland defeated Italy. but before you boldly proclaim this team to be the successors of the 1970s team, i appeal for calmness. the second goal is straight out from the 1970s. Cruijff would have been proud. but the second half was terrible. that is typical holland, isn't it? taking the lead, then becoming complacent. luckily, we didn't get punished this time (think euro 2004.)
what is for sure is that this team has something that has been missing in previous teams- the ability to grind out a goal from nothing. in other words, a ruthlessness. the third goal is proof of that. against the run of play. a goal that some other teams when in a 2-0 lead may not go in search of.
anyway, in the first half, and a few moments in the second half, the attack was fantastic. consider the number of times we split the italian defence open. van niistelrooy was put through twice, van persie was actually put through, but very wrongly called offside, the third goal. kuyt was also put through at first. 4 times. against italy, the masters of defending. no mean feat.
but the number of times we let them get into the box, especially del piero, was atrocious. if you let ribery in like that, you are going to be punished. that is all i can tell you. the defending was full of heart and courage, but you can put that differently: desperation. i hate that word desperate. and desperation doesn't inspire confidence. it was unnecessary. we simply didn't play the second half. we took our feet off, and italy controlled the game. well done to get the third goal, and afellay and van persie could have added more, but we were playing a dangerous game, and van der sar made sure we left with a clean sheet. this excitement was totally unnecessary if we could continue from where we had left off.
van der sar 7
several good saves to keep the italians at bay, although his distribution in the first half could have been much better. how good a keeper passes is very important in keeping possession.
van bronckhorst 7
2nd goal and third goal, he burst all the way up after a failed italian setpiece. the 2nd goal especially, considering he was the one who cleared the ball off the line. end to end running.
bhoularouz, mathijsen and ooijer 6
seriously they weren't that impressive. i dun really noe who was playin on the right- bhoularouz or ooijer. but either way, del piero caused alot of problem on the right. not very impressive. not very assuring.
engelaar 7
some very good passes, very strong presence in the midfield, mainly in the first half. second half, like the whole team, was all over the place. desperate.
de jong 6
what he and engelaar did well was to keep the ball in the center. but winning back the ball wasn't done very well, i thought. the sight of pirlo twisting free all the time irks me. how can two, three players go in and come out with nothing?
van der vaart 6
some neat touches. the pass to van bronckhorst for the second goal was brilliant; i was screaming for it to be played.
kuyt 7
he ran like a dog. it is a well-known fact that i don't rate kuyt highly. especially as a dutchman. but i ahve to admit today that kuyt was exceptional today. against italy, you need to play like an english forward sometimes, and this was where kuyt came in. he made one very big mistake when he did well to win the ball back, but then dribbled into the center and passed it to an italian outside his own box.
sneijder 8
he ran the show in the first half. was back defending in the second. i thought he was holland's best player, with van bronckhorst second best.
van niistelrooy 7
for someone over 30, he ran alot, alot for 70 minutes. he worked very hard, scored one goal. but he should have gotten a hattrick. nevertheless, you can't take what he has achieved today from him.
van persie 6
still not at full match fitness. lazy. but some good touches.
heitinga 6
i thought the defence was more stable after he came in for bhoularouz. although maybe the italians were also tired by then
afellay 6
not alot of time for him to make an impact, but him tearing down the right flank fills you with a sense of anticipation, especially that shot that beat buffon, but not the crossbar. that would have been some impact, some euro debut.
what is for sure is that this team has something that has been missing in previous teams- the ability to grind out a goal from nothing. in other words, a ruthlessness. the third goal is proof of that. against the run of play. a goal that some other teams when in a 2-0 lead may not go in search of.
anyway, in the first half, and a few moments in the second half, the attack was fantastic. consider the number of times we split the italian defence open. van niistelrooy was put through twice, van persie was actually put through, but very wrongly called offside, the third goal. kuyt was also put through at first. 4 times. against italy, the masters of defending. no mean feat.
but the number of times we let them get into the box, especially del piero, was atrocious. if you let ribery in like that, you are going to be punished. that is all i can tell you. the defending was full of heart and courage, but you can put that differently: desperation. i hate that word desperate. and desperation doesn't inspire confidence. it was unnecessary. we simply didn't play the second half. we took our feet off, and italy controlled the game. well done to get the third goal, and afellay and van persie could have added more, but we were playing a dangerous game, and van der sar made sure we left with a clean sheet. this excitement was totally unnecessary if we could continue from where we had left off.
van der sar 7
several good saves to keep the italians at bay, although his distribution in the first half could have been much better. how good a keeper passes is very important in keeping possession.
van bronckhorst 7
2nd goal and third goal, he burst all the way up after a failed italian setpiece. the 2nd goal especially, considering he was the one who cleared the ball off the line. end to end running.
bhoularouz, mathijsen and ooijer 6
seriously they weren't that impressive. i dun really noe who was playin on the right- bhoularouz or ooijer. but either way, del piero caused alot of problem on the right. not very impressive. not very assuring.
engelaar 7
some very good passes, very strong presence in the midfield, mainly in the first half. second half, like the whole team, was all over the place. desperate.
de jong 6
what he and engelaar did well was to keep the ball in the center. but winning back the ball wasn't done very well, i thought. the sight of pirlo twisting free all the time irks me. how can two, three players go in and come out with nothing?
van der vaart 6
some neat touches. the pass to van bronckhorst for the second goal was brilliant; i was screaming for it to be played.
kuyt 7
he ran like a dog. it is a well-known fact that i don't rate kuyt highly. especially as a dutchman. but i ahve to admit today that kuyt was exceptional today. against italy, you need to play like an english forward sometimes, and this was where kuyt came in. he made one very big mistake when he did well to win the ball back, but then dribbled into the center and passed it to an italian outside his own box.
sneijder 8
he ran the show in the first half. was back defending in the second. i thought he was holland's best player, with van bronckhorst second best.
van niistelrooy 7
for someone over 30, he ran alot, alot for 70 minutes. he worked very hard, scored one goal. but he should have gotten a hattrick. nevertheless, you can't take what he has achieved today from him.
van persie 6
still not at full match fitness. lazy. but some good touches.
heitinga 6
i thought the defence was more stable after he came in for bhoularouz. although maybe the italians were also tired by then
afellay 6
not alot of time for him to make an impact, but him tearing down the right flank fills you with a sense of anticipation, especially that shot that beat buffon, but not the crossbar. that would have been some impact, some euro debut.
and the second goal. the goal that cruijff would have been proud of, and rinus michels, in his grave would have approved.
what made the 1970s team that fantastic was that they were so fast in moving the ball, they could score with any part of the body, making it seem not awkward but elegant. this goal is so reminiscient of that team because it happened so quickly. ball cleared, vdv controls spreads to the left. van bronckhorst runs onto it, crosses far to kuyt, who heads back to sneijder who runs in and pokes it home.
the tournament has only just begun. beating italy means nothing if you don't finish the job against france and romania.
and goal.com and soccernet both keep stating that the first goal was offside. well on german tv, they were taking out the rule book, and saying it was onside. why? if u look carefully, panucci was lying on the ground beside the goal, albeit out of the playin surface. they really discussed it, and came to the conclusion that it was onside.
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