Holland Are Grounded
England will have to find a new team to support as Holland went out of Euro 2008 last night after a disappointing performance.
Pre-game: the Oranje supporters sing the name of defender Boularhouz before the whistle. His and his wife's premature baby had died a few days before. He decided to play and Holland take to the field in black armbands.
The first half clearly belonged to Russia. Holland's flow from the group games is absent. The attacking Russians put in some scary long-range shots. Pity they don't have as many supporters present as they deserve, the BBC reported a lot of empty seats at the Russian end. So there were tickets the Dutch didn't get their hands on? Gosh.
Second half, more of same. Ten minutes in, the inevitable happens, Pavlyuchenko scores a great goal. But it's not over yet, Van Nistelrooij wins a reprieve in the 86th minute. Then something weird happens in the last minute of play. Kolodin is shown his second yellow and the Russians face extra time with one player down. The assistant ref intervenes and the referee withdraws the undeserved card, avoiding a travesty.
First half of extra time, nothing. Please, please, please don't let this go to penalties. Unsuprisingly, Russia gives me my wish, though with not one but two goals in the second half to end the match 3 - 1. The young Russians are jubilant as is their Dutch manager, Guus Hiddink, who has once again done magic.
This means three out of three group winners have gone out, so let's hope Spain will do better. It would be logical for me to support Italy next as I studied Italian, but I will not give a certain Italy fan the satisfaction so it's Spain for tonight. :-) Besides, "I have always supported the Spanish king" as the Dutch national anthem goes...
Pre-game: the Oranje supporters sing the name of defender Boularhouz before the whistle. His and his wife's premature baby had died a few days before. He decided to play and Holland take to the field in black armbands.
The first half clearly belonged to Russia. Holland's flow from the group games is absent. The attacking Russians put in some scary long-range shots. Pity they don't have as many supporters present as they deserve, the BBC reported a lot of empty seats at the Russian end. So there were tickets the Dutch didn't get their hands on? Gosh.
Second half, more of same. Ten minutes in, the inevitable happens, Pavlyuchenko scores a great goal. But it's not over yet, Van Nistelrooij wins a reprieve in the 86th minute. Then something weird happens in the last minute of play. Kolodin is shown his second yellow and the Russians face extra time with one player down. The assistant ref intervenes and the referee withdraws the undeserved card, avoiding a travesty.
First half of extra time, nothing. Please, please, please don't let this go to penalties. Unsuprisingly, Russia gives me my wish, though with not one but two goals in the second half to end the match 3 - 1. The young Russians are jubilant as is their Dutch manager, Guus Hiddink, who has once again done magic.
This means three out of three group winners have gone out, so let's hope Spain will do better. It would be logical for me to support Italy next as I studied Italian, but I will not give a certain Italy fan the satisfaction so it's Spain for tonight. :-) Besides, "I have always supported the Spanish king" as the Dutch national anthem goes...