NED – CdI 2-1 HT

van der vaart should put more stability in this midfield… come on netherlands for the 2nd half

good gaol from van nistelrooy for his moral! we said it ruuuud would score!

i have the images of orange_czech.rep(2004)when we were 2_0, and then we lost 3_2, they are scaring the hell out of me.

Posted from  United States

The Netherlands player would be the best movie stars i ever have seen.. They are in the wrong buisness.. i think..sad to see them.. I hope they will be out fast…

Posted from  Sweden

Mark van Bommel should NOT be in the squad anymore!
What a stupid move at the last seconds ……….

Posted from  United States

at last… the result is there but really really difficult match. we have all to prove against the argentines… IC is a very good team, and that’s y this group was call the group of death!!!

So so game…impressive showing by the Ivory Coast. I’m not impressed with the Netherlands.

A pain to admit but IVC is the better team today, we got outplayed in the middle. I believe physically, the Oranje is not tough enough – I don’t know if it’s the heat or anything – but they looked tired and uninspired at the 2nd half. Pretty lucky to have held on the lead and claim precious 3 pts.

Boulahrouz and Mathijsen played well for the defense, Boulahrouz should start beginning game 3 instead of Heitinga. I am very disappointed with the Oranje’s midfield: Cocu and especially van Bommel (what the f*ck was he thinking toying with the ball at the last seconds of the game?).

If I were MvB, I’ll start Landzaat, vdV and Sneijder (yes, Sneijder has not been present in the first 2 matches, he is young and this can be a factor against Argentina) for game #3, let Cocu and van Bommel come out the bench if necessary.

I can’t expect more from our 3 Forwards, glad to see RvN netted the goal, hope it will boost his confidence going forward.

IVC is gaining a lot of fans this year – I love the way they play but I do wish they adhere to the fair play spirit when Gio was out and kick the ball out. They should be much stronger/mature for the next WC.

Again, not the best display of Dutch football BUT this was also how we started when we last lifted trophy in 1988, shaky, not super confident and flashy, hope they can improve in the next matches.

Does not matter if they win or lose, any position after game #3 will lead to 2 tough potential likely opponents: Mexico and Portugal – I still think Portugal is a slight stronger but as I’ve mentioned, if a team wants to win, they should be ready to face anyone.

Bring on Argentina …… long lunch anticipated next Wed.

GO ORANJE!

Posted from  United States

I think that Ivory Coast deserve high praise. As I mentioned in another thread, we as football fans loose for their early world cup exit.

Posted from  Mexico

@H, think youre right about midfield, we were being overrun and werent able to play along with their fysical style..
to be honest im a big vanBommel fan, always think he has that killing attitude (hes a basterd in the game) wich is an attitude wich many dutchman lack, BUT he realy dissapoints me this WC, he should just play simple, the way he plays now is only disturbing the balance and confidence on the midfield
Dont know what happened to Cocu, he had a very impressing season at PSV this year but looks like he lost his form somewhat..

Dont think Mathijsen played that well but true, he did not make any big mistakes (unlike vanBronckhorst!)

dont know about the 1988 thing, we played prety good against the USSR that first game, had loads of opportunities.. than in the game against England vanBasten came and everything changed… now we’ve played prety crappy for two games!!

you know, since vanBasten we very rarely played any domminating, good games (exept: 1half v Germany, the game in and against the czechs), but the results are great so what can you say… same here in the WC, at the and of the day its the result that counts

think your right about Portugal, im looking at Mexico right now, there ok but nothing special….

realy dont like Portugal, w*nkers!(yes Pedro, lol)

cant wait for the arg. game, lets see how they do without all the pressure…

greetz

Posted from  Netherlands

Well, Gio did make a crucial block when the IVC went 2 against him alone. MvB should experiment with new players for game #3: rest Gio, Cocu – for the age and yellow card, kick out van Bommel and try new combination(s) at midfield, would suggest: vdV, Sneijder and Landzaat. Midfield is supposed to be our strength but has not been present in 2 games. Would also rest RvN and even Robben since he got yellow-ed today. Try to put van Persie and Kuyt there. One amazing thing that I saw today is that RvP and Robben can play both sides of the flanks, call me biased but that’s just sick!

Doesn’t matter if we win or lose to the cheats in blue stripes – but we should really be ready for MEX or POR next. goose, I’m taking a bit more extreme position than your hatred toward POR — I hate every team other than our beloved Oranje (and England). Can’t care less about the others!

GO ORANJE!

Posted from  United States

@H, like your attitude, same here with me ,though I hate some countries more than others (esp. those southern cheating b*sterds,

think the problem with midfield is prety serious, when you play vdV, sneijder,Landzaat there’s no fysical strength, vdV and Sneijder almost qualify for dwarfs, lol, Landzaat is so very timide(?) thats why vanBommel was in the team but hes out of form

Think Marco will play Kuyt i.s.o. Robben and move vanPersie to the left, just a guess…

b.t.w. Mexico play prety bad

greetz

Posted from  Netherlands

You are really lucky you beat IC, or Argentina would send Netherlands flying out of the cup.

Posted from  United Kingdom

“You are really lucky you beat IC, or Argentina would send Netherlands flying out of the cup.”
—–

In football, if you have followed the sport long enough, you’d probably realize that “luck” is your best friend. I have seen numerous time the Oranje hit cross bars/posts but today I saw IVC hit the cross bar, guess we’ve killed the “unlucky” ghost after we beat Sweden in penalties for Euro 2004.

Football is not math, just because Argentina played well the first 2 matches and we didn’t play as well, we’ll automatically lose to Argentina. We shall see.

goose, trust me, I also hate some countries more than others …. here in order of hatred:
1. Germany (imagine Augenthaler, Koehler, Matthaeus and you want to puke!)
2. Argentina (robbed us in 1978, robbed England in 1986)
3. Columbia (glad they are not here this year)

And other teams that play our Oranje, of course …..

I just realized that our Oranje might have missed our Pitbull Edgar Davids. Edgar may be a midget like vdV and Sneijder but he is as physical as anyone out there.

Posted from  United States

@Gin, every game is a game on it self, the argentienes played beautiful but Serbia was a disgrace..

@H, my list is prety much the same ex. ill change Colombia 4 Portugal, dont get my started on those germans, still curse at least once a daw their lucky draw, still believe it was a set up….
the worst thing about the germans is that they play far less bad than i hoped after seeing their games the last years, youll see, they’ll surprise everybody those f*cking moffen.

your comment on Davids has me thinking, hes inner strenght seems to give him a few extra inches…but there’s no such fire burning in either Sneijder,Landzaat,Maduro..

greetz

Posted from  Netherlands

I am becoming sick of all the diving going on, yes Robben… that means you… and you too Van Bommell…

Some may not agree, but i think that diving takes away from football and ultimately disrupts the tempo of the game… If i were watching the match with any non-Dutch supporters when Van Bommell dived without even being touched, i would have been sooooo embarassed… we are better than that. Twice in that game (i think) a player dived and wasted the kick from the centre of the field by playing it backwards when, had they not dived, there was a great chance for a man-on-man situation. I absolutely LOVE soccer but i can see why alot of people think that soccer and soccer players are a bit soft when they carry on like that.

Posted from  Australia

goose:

I think if you are an Oranje, automatically you’ll hate Germany first, some sort of default? …. )

My hope is somehow Ecuador can draw the Germans so they’ll fall to #2, England tops group B and send the Germans to an early holiday!

That’s what I meant about Davids, he may not be as technically gifted as the others but he is one of our rare “tough” guys. And he runs around like crazy as well, both factors will help playing against team like Argentina.

ayl18:

Unfortunately, diving is part of the sport. I also hate it more if our players do it, with that said, I’d argue the yellow that Robben got yesterday is not warranted and it’s not a dive. From the angle I saw, he got clipped by 2 IVC players and since Arjen is a speedster to begin with, it’s not easy not to fall when he got clipped like that.

Posted from  United States

Yeah, fair enough –H but i just wish that it was eraddicated because it seems to slow down the tempo of the match… i do agree with you about Robben’s ‘dive’ against the Ivory Coast but that wasn’t the only time that he’s dived… he’s notorious for it… but i still love the guy.

Posted from  Australia

@H and ayl18, thought it was no dive (this time) by Robben but he payed for his reputation this time..

Mexico and Portugal neither made an impression, LETS BRING THEM ON!!!

There’s a discussion now in dutch media saying we should play Cocu right in front of the defenence….

any opinions??

greetz

Posted from  Netherlands

Yeah goose, the stigma attached to him, i’m sure had a lot to do with it, maybe if he didn’t overreact then the Ref may have given a penalty to the Dutch but Robben made it LOOK like a dive even though he was blocked.

Did anyone see the Aus v Brazil game??? Aust. did well i think, they shut down the Brazillians well…. too bad about the result though

Posted from  Australia

I know that it isn’t related to group C or The Netherlands but there seems to be a lot of Aussies in this forum and i think that should the Dutch come up against Brazil, if Brazil play they play the way that they did against Aust. then they are definately beatable…. Argentina looks like more of a threat.

Posted from  Australia

I’m sure that the stigma attached to Robben regarding diving had an effect on the Refs decision… maybe if Robben hadn’t have made it LOOK like a dive, then we may have been awarded a penalty… but even though he was impeded, he made it look as if he acted the dive… it didn’t look at all natural and looked very forced, and the Ref must have automatically thought… It’s Robben…. It MUST have been a dive based on past experience

Posted from  Australia

To my mates from Aussie: I think you should be really proud of your team, they played with hearts and could match (or even outmatched?) the mighty Brazil. The 2-0 score was deceiving and the ref. was really bad/biased on his calls against the Socceroos. I hope the Aussie will go through, good for the sport.

This is an “outrageous” thought:
How about putting Cocu at left back (IIRC, he played in this position either in WC ‘98 or Euro ‘00?) and put Gio in the midfield?

GO ORANJE!

Posted from  United States

Thanks -H for the encouraging words. I think that we played pretty well, the scoreline just doesn’t reflect that. I can’t believe how much of an impact Hiddink has made on our team and in Australia.. i knew that it would be big, but he’s everywhere…. every paper, every magazine… it’s crazy.

I’m so glad that i have 2 teams to cheer for this year….

Go the Socceroos, go Oranje and BOOOO Germany (just kidding… sorta)

Posted from  Australia

Gio has been copping a lot of crap (am i allowed to write that on this blog?) for his performances lately but there is something about him that i really enjoy to watch.. maybe it’s just me, but i really like the way that he plays in some patches…. wish he was a little bit more consistent though.

Posted from  Australia