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Van Hanegem: Ruud was Man of the Match

June 11th, 2008 | By: Jan | 14 Comments »

I highly enjoyed the Oranje victory over Italy last Monday, with my sons and friends. Luckily, no one expects me to join the conga line afterwards. I can’t understand the way some people deal with Oranje. If they play a tough game against Albania, people are ready to lynch Marco and when we win in an impressive way, everybody thinks we won the title already. All that bravado doesn’t benefit the team now. The players need rest and need to clear their heads for the most important match of the year. That is, in my book, every next match should be “the most important match of the year”. All those thoughts on taking revenge on Portugal or a canal joy ride in Amsterdam… Not my cup of tea. Yet. And let’s not ridicule the Italians. They played under par, but we can meet them in the semis again and boy, that will be a different match then…

I think Marco did very well. He devised a team that wasn’t designed to overwhelm the opponent. With two holding midfielders and Dirk Kuyt, you can play possession. Engelaar demonstrated this the best. This guy is very thrifty when in possession. At times, Oranje played very good and attractive. There is promise in this performance.

The Italians helped us a bit though. Pirlo is their creative architect but had to play close to his defense because his sergeants on midfield couldn’t close the gaps. This paired with Raf van der Vaart’s intelligent positioning play made Pirlo an impotent playmaker. With Cassano and Del Piero, Italy grew back in the game in the second half and thanks to Van der Sar we kept the scoresheet clean. What a remarkable goalie he is! But we knew that already.

I saw two things that amazed me. First Gio! Where does Van Bronckhorst find that energy to do what he hasn’t done at all at Feyenoord? My compliments.

Secondly, I am amazed that no one mentioned Ruud van Nistelrooy as man of the match. I did see how effective Kuyt was, and Sneijder worked as hard as ever, and Van der Vaart demonstrating his vision and smarts. Sure. We all see that. But Van Nistelrooy’s contribution is underestimated. He alone was responsible for keeping three Italians defenders busy, indirectly being responsible for the space the other three got to play their football. He was constantly available andcreated two good chances by smart runs behind the defense. Thanks to Ruud, Engelaar and De Jong could constantly pass into the three forward midfielders. Ruud deserves recognition for his game. Not a lot of people see that, but I’m sure Marco van Basten complimented his number one striker after the game.

Because Marco most definitely saw the value of Ruud van Gol.

Tags: Basten, De Rossi, Del Piero, Group C, Holland, Kuyt, Oranje, Schip, Van Hanegem

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Comments

By Jason | June 11th, 2008 at 5:49 pm

Very true. People often don’t realize what a known scorer like this does to draw away the defence. On top of that he bagged one himself and could have bagged two more. Still though, finally a team effort from Holland, if they keep that up they can make people really notice in the game against France.

Posted from Canada

By Mario Rosado (Dutch admirer) | June 11th, 2008 at 5:56 pm

I totally agree with Willem. Ruud is a top class striker and it takes 2 defenders to stop him that leaves spaces for our 3 creative midfielders to take advantage of. Ruud also passes the ball very well and almost never misses any real chances.

By Carlos | June 11th, 2008 at 8:15 pm

Agree with Willem that Ruud did his bit for the team and yes with one man alone up front and 3 very active attacking midfielders, the Italians have no idea who will come up to attack next. Sneijder (or Kuyt) is in one moment near our goal line then he’s shooting at goal the next. You cant manmark that sort of player. So Ruud gets all the attention from them. Personnaly dont think he was man of the match but everyone has their views. I rate Sar’s performance ahead of Ruud’s as if he didn’t keep out those potential goals……..

Anyway Willem sees it as a technical coach from a technical point, something the average watcher usually misses.

Wow it’s on again tomorrow night….Jan you’re prediction ?

Posted from Singapore

By Rob | June 11th, 2008 at 8:26 pm

Ruud had a good game but missed too many chances to be called man of the match. I don’t understand why this guy praises some of the defenders to the heavens and then only earmarks the forwards as possible man of the match contenders. Still think it’s definitely Gio - he was flawless and beyond flawless.

Posted from Japan

By Jan | June 11th, 2008 at 9:12 pm

Willem is a bit of a character. When the whole nation is dancing, he says: keep your feet on the ground. When everybody is ready to lynch Van Basten, Willem comes out with positives. If everyone hails Gio or Kuyt, he’ll pick another player to compliment. Willem thrives on being “off beat”.

But I do remember vividly one interview with JC and Willem. Spain had to beat Malta with 11 goals to qualify for a big tournie and defeat Oranje in the process. No one in Holland believed this to be possible.

Both Willem and JC - independent of each other - said: Spain will do it.

The whole nation laughed at them, and Spain won 12-1 and qualified…

Posted from Australia

By Brian | June 11th, 2008 at 9:19 pm

Ah yes - the infamous 12-1 from the Euro 84 qualifiers.

By Jan | June 11th, 2008 at 9:35 pm

Correct. Now of course we know now that that was not a fair victory, but Oranje’s team manager Kees Rijvers wasn’t even watching it. He was playing cards with the neighbours and was interupted by other neighbours who came to tell him about the result.

On telly, a famous comedian had a live show and in the first half of the show, he made a joke, saying it was 8-0 after 30 minutes. Every one laughed. After the break - he heard the score during his little intermission - he came back on to tell the audience Spain had won 12-1. No one believed him. Every one laughed even harder. He almost panicked: it’s true, it’s true…they did it…

Legendary stuff….

Posted from Australia

By Stasio | June 11th, 2008 at 9:47 pm

Do you guys think you will beat the french or just tie

By Carlos | June 11th, 2008 at 10:08 pm

Hi Stasio

Us guys are still a litlle cautious - as FANS we definitely HOPE we win, we think it’s possible and Holland will play their usual attacking game, they know no different way of playing.
If we play the way we did against Italy(World Champs) then YES we shall win. If we play the way we played against Luxembourg (World No 224?) then I doubt it.
But Holland always plays well against good sides and poorly against minnows. If we beat France then it’s highly likely Marco will rest many players. 2 things can happen 1. We lose due to Romania perhaps needing a win. 3. We win due to many fringe players wanting to prove to Marco they belong in the starting line up.
If Romania and Holland win tonight you can expect a very dull draw in the last game as no one wants injuries/yellow cards (or reds!)

Hope I have confused you enough

Posted from Singapore

By bunchapooha | June 11th, 2008 at 10:19 pm

It really can go either way.. Something which I think today’s matches proved; don’t write a team off just yet just because they opened the group stages poorly, the Czechs were a completely different team compared to the match against Portugal. I fear France will be no different, it’ll be an open, rough game.

Posted from Netherlands

By Michel-Olivier | June 11th, 2008 at 10:31 pm

does anyone know if klaas hunter is still injured?

Posted from United States

By Jan | June 11th, 2008 at 10:56 pm

Hunter hurt his ankle but isn’t really out. He was rested. Melchiot however doesn’t seem to be fit.

As Carlos said, it can go any which way. Oranje will want to win, but I also predict a tough and fierce match.

Posted from Australia

By Caleb | June 12th, 2008 at 9:25 am

Jan - I’ve never heard about that Spain qualifier game, why was it not fair victory?

Posted from Canada

By Insider | June 12th, 2008 at 9:06 pm

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has a calf injury but it appears not to be too serious. Robben meanwhile returns to the squad, and will prove a massive boost for our attack, alongside van Persie, who hopefully will be able to start as well. If they both play, you can count on van Basten to have them steaming ready, and France will be the unfortunate victims, helpless against their mesmerizing and, at most times, amazing skill. If not, it’s still a pretty safe bet France will be having a horrid time against Oranje in the coming match-up. As for the ITA-ROM match, it’s obvious Italy won’t be the tournament’s donkey by hitting the same rock twice and should secure a firm victory despite facing a strong defensive side.

Posted from Netherlands

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