Let's face it. It just wouldn't be the same without them...the Oranje army rolled into town yesterday as Holland got their world cup quest underway against Denmark in Soccer City. When you think of the Dutch and football, you can't help but come up with two words: perennial underachievers.
I mean, you look at their squad and it is absolutely swamped with talent: van Persie, Robben, Sneijder, van Bommel, van der Vaart, Kuyt...need I go on?! There is no doubting that those individuals have got something special. So why do they never seem to win things?! It has been a particular feature of Dutch sides to start off tournaments well, with a team that looks like it could seriously go all the way and then somehow capitulate just before the end. In 2008 they lost to Russia in the quarters; in 2006 they lost to Portugal in the so called 'Battle of Nuremberg' in the last 16 knock outs. This year, they have a new manager in Bert van Marwijk and a whole host of stars, including some young guns like Elia and Afellay - the question is will they have the cutting edge and endurance to go all the way?
Much was expected of Holland in yesterday's performance, particularly following Germany's emphatic victory the evening before. But, to be honest, they were pretty disappointing in the first half. In fact, I would say that Denmark had the better chances and were, by a small margin, the better team. Denmark actually finished above Portugal in the qualifiers, so they are no push-overs, and they had several good chances in the first half, to get the lead over their European rivals. The best chance of the half fell to Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner heading wide. They had their best period of the game in the latter stage of the first half and went into half time, the happier of the two. The problem with the Dutch side was: no Robben. We knew that he would be missing the first game as a precaution, after his injury, and that meant that there was no real width to their play. They failed to spread the ball out over the pitch, attack down the wings and get behind the full backs - something we know that Robben can do so well. Their play was very narrowed and the Danish defence stood firm...
Until 50 seconds into the second half that is...Robin van Persie managed to get the ball up to the byeline and with some skilful trickery, managed to outwit the Danish right-back and slot the ball across the face of goal. It should have been met by a Dutch foot or head, but instead found its way over to the Danish left-back, Simon Poulsen who unwittingly headed the ball off the back of Daniel Agger and into the net. A freak own goal and a big blow to the Danes, who had been playing so well in the first half, up until that moment. It was a lucky goal for the Dutch, and kind of slowed the game down, as the Danes were unable to really recover from that and get an equaliser. The Danes had no real response and the Dutch took advantage of this, to try and press for the second. It was hardly the "total football" that we expected, but it was clinical and allowed them to secure the vital 3 points. The Danes took off Bendtner, pretty much admitting defeat. They had hoped to get at least a point from this game, but that idea was promptly put to bed, when 5 minutes from time, the sub, Elia managed to weave past the defence, and get a shot on target, only for it to hit the post. But, Dirk Kuyt was on hand to ram in the rebound. Elia was unlucky to get a goal - it was a great substitution, as from the moment he came on, he gave the Danes real trouble with his pace and quick one-touch football. The Oranjes could nearly have had a third, if it wasn't for a spectacular off-the-line clearance by Poulsen. Unfortunately, for him, it was a tad too late to make amends as the game finished 2-0.
Although it was not a sterling performance by any stretch of the imagination for the Dutch, they will be pleased to have got the 3 points, without their star man, Robben, and will now go into their next 2 games, as favourites to win the group. For Denmark, all is not lost. They do have the quality to beat Japan and Cameroon because in that first half, they matched Holland, and indeed could have taken the lead. There has been talk that aside from the Germans, there hasn't really been much pretty, attacking football. It's all been really cagey and tense. That's true, and maybe the Dutch will get slightly criticised for not giving us the football they promised, but sometimes even the best attacking teams have to grind out a result to get to the top and win.
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