Vidic of Manchester United has to sit this one out due to suspension. Robin Van Persie (RVP) is part of a Premiership trio starting up front for the Dutch with Ruud Van Nistelrooy (RVN) and Robben.
S&M has opted to start with the 6' 7" Nikola Zigic (Peter Crouch with muscles and without the dance) on the bench, hopefully a reinforced one.
Nearly 15 minutes gone and the game has yet to settle into a pattern although Djordjevic looks like he might be the danger man for S&M. (Just as well we have an & between the S and the M!).
Arjen Robben scores! He times his run perfectly as S&M get caught square trying to hold a line and runs through on to a clip over the top from RVP. A maasive goal for the Dutch given S&M's great defensive record.
The Dutch are looking very confident so far, but S&M look dangerous whenever they have half a chance. The Netherlands needs to get a crucial second goal.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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