Van Basten happy

“At least we save the peace in our Royal Family”, van Basten joked after the 0-0 draw against the Gauchos, hinting at the Argentine wife of Prince Willem Alexander, Princess Maxima.
“Overall, I’m satisfied. We did well, particularly in the beginning of the match. After that, Argentina grabbed the initiative, but that’s not a big discgrace. They are quite a strong side. I am proud of the boys, we didn’t lose a match in this Group of Death.

The Dutch can take revenge on the side that ousted them on the EC 2004 in Portugal, who look much stronger than Mexico, the number two of Group D and the next opponent of Argentina. “We have a good chance if everyone executes their tasks right.”
“Obviously we wanted to win against Argentina, but most important was not to get injured players. We will resume with a totally fit group for our preparation against Portugal. That match is much more important that this one. This is the first of a series of four finals.”
Although the B-side of Argentina left a better impression that Oranje’s B-side, Van der Sar did not have to act often. “We did not give away a lot of chances, and that is a plus. Because Argentina is a world class side, and we still need to show the world that we are.
One of Holland’s best, defender Boulahrouz – nicknamed the cannibal – almost beat record-international van der Sar, but his shot hit the post. In the last minutes both Babel and Cocu were close to scoring. “That would have been too much, I think.” Thought van Basten. “But I am satisfied. We made progress again. We will also train on penalty kick this time. We won’t leave anything to chance. It’ll be tough against Portugal, but we can beat them.”

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