Oranje beats South Korea 2-0

Without playing great football, Oranje won the friendly against South Korea relatively easily with 2-0.
Both teams did their best to make this friendly really matter and to entertain the fans. The atmosphere in the stadium was great and helped to give the match that “extra”. The stadium was filled with 64.000 enthousiastic fans, among them Special Reporter Bruce :-).

Van Basten started with debutant Andwele Slory on the left wing. The speedy Excelsior player started really well, with a shooting-opp in the first minute, that he just missed. He was somewhat unlucky with his other actions but he was involved in practically all offensive actions of Oranje. In the 29th minute he had another shooting-opp but totally mis-handled the ball. A minute later he passed keeper Lee (they’re all called Lee, so that’s easy) who fouled Slory. Rafael van der Vaart scored from the spot: 1-0.

In the 53rd minute, Slory’s debut ended on a low note. He again tricked an opponent who tackled Slory. The ref didn’t see anything in it, but Slory needed to be replaced by Dirk Kuyt.

In the 72nd minute, it was Mario Melchiot who crossed the ball in for Kuyt, who missed the ball. Van der Vaart, with his nose for the right spot, was present to walk the ball in to the goal: 2-0.

Van Basten was pretty happy after the match. “Yes, it was an interesting match. We played well, particularly in the first half and we got several good scoring opportunities. We can be satisfied with the performance and the result. South Korea is not just an opponent, they are among the best in Asia and played on the last two WC’s… Which we can’t say…”
The team manager was happy with Slory’s debut. “He did well. He is quick and he knows how to utilize his strength at the right moments. He had two real opportunities and created that penalty situation. He is an exciting player for the future.”

South Korea coach and fellow Dutchman Pim Verbeek: “We always want to win at home. So it is a disappointment, yes, but it was also a useful match for our Asia Cup preparation. And if I am honest, we didn’t deserve to win tonight.”

Gio van Bronkhorst and Wilfred Bouma were allowed to fly home, while the rest of Oranje made their little trip to Thaliand for the next friendly on Wednesday. Gio is needed at Barca for the La Liga ending (2 more matches to go) and Bouma is getting married in a week’s time…