Holland wins thanks to lucky Gio effort

It was another nailbiter. This time, not because of the lousy play and the almost invincibility of the opponent. No, this time Oranje played acceptable football. Compared to the Saturday match, Oranje played pretty decent. Good pace, good combinations, aiming to score goals. And the opportunities to score were plenty. Particularly the first quarter of the second half was an array of chances, Sneijder had the best one when he penetrated and look the Slovenian goalie right in the eye. But transforming the opps in goals… It wasn’t to be.

Until Gio van Bronckhorst – once the hero for Oranje in a home game against Ireland if I’m not mistaken with a dreamgoal some years back – decided to try his luck. And luck was a factor, since the ball reflected of a Slovenian leg. But…in Gio’s words: “It doesn’t really matter. I was happy as I could be. The time of scoring beauties is past us. It was late in the game. The only thing that mattered were the three points.”

Marco van Basten: “I have mixed feelings. I felt so frustrated with all those opportunities – I counted at least 10 – and not scoring. That Sunday-shot in the 85th minute was a big relief.”

The team manager was quoted some days ago about the changes he’d make. “I don’t think I’ll alter a lot.” But he did after all. Five new faces and three players on different positions. Only Sneijder, Mathijsen and Bouma played on their usual spots. Van Basten, “ I wasn’t inclined to change much, but it became clear that playing two matches full on was maybe too much for some. We felt that during training.”

And there were some surprises. There was no place for Seedorf and De Zeeuw in the starting line up. Sneijder was back on the number 10 position – the attacking central midfielder role – so there was no spot for Seedorf. Since San Marco wanted to stick to the Sneijder role, there also wasn’t a spot for controlling midfielder De Zeeuw. Instead, Ibrahim Afellay made his debut. And, he was definitely the best man on the pitch at Oranje’s side. “Ibrahim did very well. He excells in everything a midfielder needs to be good at. He passes well, he sees the game, his base technique is fantastic and he understands how we want to play. I am very pleased with him.”

Another surprise was the benching of Huntelaar. For mysterious reasons, Van Basten played the Hunter against Rumania, for mysterious reasons he decided this time to use Kuyt. The eager Liverpudlian worked hard – as ever – and did show some positive actions on the pitch, but he couldn’t take Van Basten’s striker-position worries away.

Demy de Zeeuw would make his debut though. He was brought on in the 2nd half, with Clarence Seedorf and …. To break open the defense of Slovenia, but by that time the structure and flow had already left the Oranje team. It was all or nothing. And, with a meagre 1-0 win, it became all. Thanks to Gio van Bronckhorst and a resilient Slovenian leg.

This result obviously means that Oranje’s chances to qualify are still on track. And when the Dutch camp learned that the biggest competitor in the Group, Bulgaria, couldn’t score and win against football dwarf Albania, the sun started to shine even brighter.

Lucky Marco did it again. Better quality of play, three points and a rival spilling points. It was a good day in Slovenia…