netherlands vs france...
Netherlands vs France: 4-1
(Kuyt 9', van Persie 59', Robben 72', Sneijder 90+2'; Henry 71')
Holland: van der Sar - Boulahrouz,
Ooijer, Mathijsen, van Bronckhorst - de Jong, Engelaar (Robben, 46')- Kuyt (van Persie, 55'), van der Vaart (Bouma, 78'), Sneijder - van Nistelrooy
France: Coupet - Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Evra -
Toulalan,
Makélélé - Govou (Anelka, 75'), Ribéry, Malouda (Gomis, 60') - Henry
I can only repeat myself: HOLY SHIT, HOLLAND!!! OMG, what a game. I am totally amazed. First they beat the World Cup winner 3-0, and now they win 4-1 against the second finalist. O_O This team is definitely in for the title - and one can't blame them if they win, they're just too good.
Let's see if I can form a more or less coherent report. *breathes deeply*
Due to the Netherland's early first goal, France couldn't afford to play like they did against Romania, keeping themselves back and challenging their opponents to advance and thus provide them with chances for counter attacks. No, Dirk Kuyt didn't agree with that, and I'm so so happy that he scored because he deserves it so much. I'm really in awe about how much this man does for his team. He retreats, does lots of defensive work, but then immediately runs back to the front to score or prepare attacks. This time, he even prepared his goal, provoking a corner kick against Gallas, and whereas Ooijer missed the ball that van der Vaart sent into the box, Kuyt (though heavily impaired in his agility by Malouda clinging to him), headed it in from a short distance. After that, France simply had to open up, and the Netherlands could lean back a bit. The commentator kept saying that while the Dutch have a world class midfield and forwards, their defense players aren't such big stars. This might be true on the sheet, but on the pitch, this defense was excellent, especially Boulahrouz, who is still looking for a club that would have him (Sevilla aren't interested in keeping him, and Chelsea don't want him anymore either). He once again played in a position that's rather untypical for him, and yet he did a great job. Van Bronckhorst didn't shine as much as he did against Italy and seemed a bit overtaxed with Ribéry, but he didn't have any major lapses and thus can't be called a bad defender either. Also, one didn't need to be a star today to play better than the renowned Lilian Thuram, who made rather shocking mistakes with the one or the other grave consequence, as opposed to the less famous but very solid Joris Mathijsen.
Not everything was bad about the French today, though. Ribéry was in the middle this time and seemed very glad to finally play a position that suited him and gave him the freedom to shift to the left and the right as he saw fit. Also, Henry proved to fit better into the team than Benzema and Anelka did against Romania - but that might just be the case because two strikers are a bit too much for this rather defensively orientated midfield in general. Still, their best chance to that point was the one around the 53rd minute, when Henry ran towards van der Sar, completely undisturbed, the goalkeeper left his goal, and Henry headed the ball over him - but unfortunately over the goal as well. Therefore, it's not very surprising that the Dutch scored the 2-0 before the French managed to score the equaliser. Van Nistelrooy cunningly passed the ball to Robben, who raced forward, escaped France's defenders, and then crossed to van Persie, whose shot hit Coupet and then slowly rolled into the goal before the French keeper actually realised that he could have saved it if he had just turned around in time.
What I particularly love about this Dutch team (and also Marco van Basten, who provides with the line-up and substitutions), is that even when they're 2-0 in front, they don't pull back entirely and let the other team play. Domenech kept his very defensive line-up despite being two goals behind, but the Netherlands played with three strikers (van Nistelrooy, van Persie, Robben) and two quite offensive midfielders (van der Vaart, Sneijder) until the 78th minute. No defense walls, no static playing, but most entertaining football, and they definitely know how to dominate a team. Even when the French scored (Sagnol got the ball after a foul against van Nistelrooy which the referee didn't see and crosses into the middle where Henry stood free), the Netherlands kept up their good work and immediately retorted with the 3-1. Robben duped Thuram and scored from an extremely acute angle into the far corner. What a beautiful goal. I'd say it was the most beautiful goal of the Euro so far. Van Nistelrooy had another very good chance in the 83rd minute. He saw that Coupet was standing too far outside his goal and sent a header over him that would have hit the back of the net if Coupet hadn't been lucky to reach it before it crossed the line. But that wasn't even the last big scene. In the last minute of injury time, van Nistelrooy crossed the ball from the right side after a quick counter attack, van Persie forwarded it to Sneijder, and he, just like against Italy, sent it volley into the goal.
That's what I call beautiful football. Thanks a million, Holland, and please do keep up the good work. ♥
Also, aww, cute interview with Wesley Sneijder on TV! *melts*
(Kuyt 9', van Persie 59', Robben 72', Sneijder 90+2'; Henry 71')
Holland: van der Sar - Boulahrouz,
Ooijer, Mathijsen, van Bronckhorst - de Jong, Engelaar (Robben, 46')- Kuyt (van Persie, 55'), van der Vaart (Bouma, 78'), Sneijder - van Nistelrooy
France: Coupet - Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Evra -
Toulalan,
Makélélé - Govou (Anelka, 75'), Ribéry, Malouda (Gomis, 60') - Henry
I can only repeat myself: HOLY SHIT, HOLLAND!!! OMG, what a game. I am totally amazed. First they beat the World Cup winner 3-0, and now they win 4-1 against the second finalist. O_O This team is definitely in for the title - and one can't blame them if they win, they're just too good.
Let's see if I can form a more or less coherent report. *breathes deeply*
Due to the Netherland's early first goal, France couldn't afford to play like they did against Romania, keeping themselves back and challenging their opponents to advance and thus provide them with chances for counter attacks. No, Dirk Kuyt didn't agree with that, and I'm so so happy that he scored because he deserves it so much. I'm really in awe about how much this man does for his team. He retreats, does lots of defensive work, but then immediately runs back to the front to score or prepare attacks. This time, he even prepared his goal, provoking a corner kick against Gallas, and whereas Ooijer missed the ball that van der Vaart sent into the box, Kuyt (though heavily impaired in his agility by Malouda clinging to him), headed it in from a short distance. After that, France simply had to open up, and the Netherlands could lean back a bit. The commentator kept saying that while the Dutch have a world class midfield and forwards, their defense players aren't such big stars. This might be true on the sheet, but on the pitch, this defense was excellent, especially Boulahrouz, who is still looking for a club that would have him (Sevilla aren't interested in keeping him, and Chelsea don't want him anymore either). He once again played in a position that's rather untypical for him, and yet he did a great job. Van Bronckhorst didn't shine as much as he did against Italy and seemed a bit overtaxed with Ribéry, but he didn't have any major lapses and thus can't be called a bad defender either. Also, one didn't need to be a star today to play better than the renowned Lilian Thuram, who made rather shocking mistakes with the one or the other grave consequence, as opposed to the less famous but very solid Joris Mathijsen.
Not everything was bad about the French today, though. Ribéry was in the middle this time and seemed very glad to finally play a position that suited him and gave him the freedom to shift to the left and the right as he saw fit. Also, Henry proved to fit better into the team than Benzema and Anelka did against Romania - but that might just be the case because two strikers are a bit too much for this rather defensively orientated midfield in general. Still, their best chance to that point was the one around the 53rd minute, when Henry ran towards van der Sar, completely undisturbed, the goalkeeper left his goal, and Henry headed the ball over him - but unfortunately over the goal as well. Therefore, it's not very surprising that the Dutch scored the 2-0 before the French managed to score the equaliser. Van Nistelrooy cunningly passed the ball to Robben, who raced forward, escaped France's defenders, and then crossed to van Persie, whose shot hit Coupet and then slowly rolled into the goal before the French keeper actually realised that he could have saved it if he had just turned around in time.
What I particularly love about this Dutch team (and also Marco van Basten, who provides with the line-up and substitutions), is that even when they're 2-0 in front, they don't pull back entirely and let the other team play. Domenech kept his very defensive line-up despite being two goals behind, but the Netherlands played with three strikers (van Nistelrooy, van Persie, Robben) and two quite offensive midfielders (van der Vaart, Sneijder) until the 78th minute. No defense walls, no static playing, but most entertaining football, and they definitely know how to dominate a team. Even when the French scored (Sagnol got the ball after a foul against van Nistelrooy which the referee didn't see and crosses into the middle where Henry stood free), the Netherlands kept up their good work and immediately retorted with the 3-1. Robben duped Thuram and scored from an extremely acute angle into the far corner. What a beautiful goal. I'd say it was the most beautiful goal of the Euro so far. Van Nistelrooy had another very good chance in the 83rd minute. He saw that Coupet was standing too far outside his goal and sent a header over him that would have hit the back of the net if Coupet hadn't been lucky to reach it before it crossed the line. But that wasn't even the last big scene. In the last minute of injury time, van Nistelrooy crossed the ball from the right side after a quick counter attack, van Persie forwarded it to Sneijder, and he, just like against Italy, sent it volley into the goal.
That's what I call beautiful football. Thanks a million, Holland, and please do keep up the good work. ♥
Also, aww, cute interview with Wesley Sneijder on TV! *melts*