Romania took an ultra-extra
cagey approach to this vital match trying to ensure that they didn’t offer Netherlands
a chance to counter attack. By the end of the ninety minutes they had won the
battle but had categorically lost the war.
The safety first approach
worked in the first half as the Netherlands were forced to build their attacks rather
than benefitting from the super quick passing that had caused Italy and France
so much trouble.
However, Netherlands did
have chances with the best falling to Robben but he shot wide with only Lobont
to beat. Boulahrouz of all players was enjoying far too much space when
attacking down the Dutch right and more might have come from a couple of his raids.
Romania’s passing was
inconsistent with far too many sloppy passes or players being caught in
possession. Early in the second half any thoughts Romania may have harboured
about holding back and then pushing for a late winner were crushed when their
sloppy play infected the back four.
The Romanian defence
allowed Afellay to chase down an errant Robben cross completely unmolested. The
Dutch midfielder played the ball back into the box and again the defence failed
to deal with it. This time the ball found Huntelaar and Romania was in trouble.
Needing to up the tempo
Romania was unable to change gears as their passing deteriorated under the
pressure of now having to chase the game. Maruis Niculae who started in place
of his namesake Daniel was a willing front runner but sorely lacking the skills
to bother the Dutch defence.
Mutu was a sporadic
presence as the two received virtually no support from the midfield. The replacement of Maruis by Daniel made no
difference as the Dutch continued to deal with any Romanian threat with a
minimum amount of trouble.
Another goal from the
Dutch, this one from Robin van Persie, only served to highlight the gulf
between these two teams on the day.
Romania go home and leave thinking
of what might have been if only Buffon had been a split second slower or even
a fraction of a second quicker. But even then the game against the Netherlands offered up a second
chance to Romania and they bottled it.
France 0-2 Italy The share of the play
might have been even but Italy should have had France dead and buried before
half time. French supporters can look to the penalty kick awarded against Eric
Abidal and the red card he received as the turning point in this game but there
ominous signs before that moment for
France.
The injury to Franck
Ribery early in the game was another blow to France but even a fully fit Ribery
for ninety minutes would not have mitigated the problems caused by a porous
central defence and a ponderous in midfield.
The lead up to the penalty
decision was a microcosm of France’s early problems. A free kick in the centre circle
was played to Pirlo. With no pressure on him Pirlo had time to look up and clip
a 35-yard pass over the head of Abidal and onto the toe of Toni. Abidal attempted
a tackle was never going to finish up as anything but a dead-cert penalty kick.
Toni was giving the French
defence fits before Abidal’s sending off and he continued after the dismissal.
Grosso also hit the post from a free kick and Perrotta came close to breaking
through. French coach Raymond Domenech’s
decision to withdraw substitute Nasri (he had replaced Ribery) shortly after Abidal’s
red card will be a source of heated discussion amongst French fans. A more fateful
decision was perhaps taken before kick off in opting to deputize full back
Abidal as a centre back.
You can certainly argue
about the merits of centre backs Jean-Alain Boumsong and Sébastien Squillaci. But asking a regular full back to play centre
half when Domenech had two specialist centre-backs available begs the question
why did he bother picking Boumsong and Squillaci to start with?
Daniele
De Rossi’s deflected free kick was the clincher and put the game well beyond
10-man France. De Rossi was excellent throughout and his performance was a
reminder of Donadoni’s mistake in not playing the Roma midfielder against
Netherlands in the first game.
Comment of the Day
"That is the happiest
I have ever been after a match in which I didn't score," Ruud van Nistelrooy
after Holland beat France 4-1.
Prediction Update
LHJS, Sounderfan, knvoetbal
all recorded 100% scores is predicting the outcome of Group B. Sounderfan is
the only poster with a 100% record at the conclusion of the first two groups.
He leads everyone by at least two points.
In all fairness to the BBC the UEFA tournament rules do not specify which ties are to be broken by penalty shootouts, and there is no mention of ties only relating to qualification.
Bobby,
What has happened to the Germany from the World Cup? They showed a little flair in their first game but things have looked poor. This may be a crazy comment but Schweinstiger looks like the heart and soul of the team. When he is in, the ball seems to move to his side and from his wing he is able to penetrate and open up space for the forwards and Ballack. Without him in Germany is very predictable and their wide play is toothless in attack or movement.
Refreshing to see the Netherlands' tactics. While everyone is yelling at them to sub a defender in to thwart the France attack...in comes another attacker. I loved it! Have everyone's favorite second team become the favorite to win?
Ecstatic is an understatement of how happy I am that Schweinstiger is banned for the Portugal game.
The obvious switch would of been to sit the awful Gomez and push Podolski further up with Kloser. Instead Lowe will have to keep Gomez or use Kuranyi?
Still keeping my expectations modest for Portugal and everyone else for that matter. Don't start planning the parades until Germany, Italy and France are out and that thought gives me goosebumps .
So here's how it works with d'Ar5ena1. Since so many of you were wondering.
Last year, they gave Wenger's tender young striplings one of the softest starts imaginable and off they romped into an early EPL lead. EPL boss Richard Scudamore admires them so much that they gratefully offered him a jolly decent job -club president -in the off-season.
By the time more talented opponents were marched in, they had established a strong enough position that referees were under considerable pressure to look out for the well-being of a 'first-place' club by making sure they weren't unduly fouled or harshly ruled for excess enthusiasm by being judged off side. Just boys being boys, after all.
Therefore, every poncing, theatrical dive from the Popguns was met with shrill whistles and stern rebukes. After all, the refs know where their bread is buttered and who are they to blow against the wind from an Ar5ena1-loving set of bosses.
Tragically, no one could properly anticipate all this successful scheming going to the head of Wenger, who assumed his coddled kiddie corps would continue their pas d'onze - jete par jete - to the title.
As the second half of the season brought it's usual stresses and strains, a failure to fortify ensured they would flouncingly flounder in the final furlong. And unflatteringly ####y about it as well.
Scudamore, assured by Wenger during his job interview that he won't spit the bit in this year's stretch, has again obliged with another butter soft opening series wherein they meet their first tough opponent - England and Europe conquering Manche
England and Europe conquering Manchester United - in round 12.
With the likeliest challengers for the title all facing rougher starts, Ar5ena1 will meet this mid-November match probably unbeaten and looking the best bet to anyone they might contemplate buying in the January transfer window.
Good teams are built on and off the pitch and Ar5enal's strongest acquisition is their soon-to-be-named club president, the corgi-loving Richard Scudamore. Tra-la-la-la and toodle pip.
Bobby: I thought Canada beat Mexico 1-0 at the Azteca in the early '80s. Gerry Gray scoring for Canada. I remember seeing the goal and Gray jumping around in celebraton. Might have been an Olympic qualifier.
Not blessed with much time these days and can't find any quick links to Canadian records against other nations. If you say we haven't, I assume you have more complete information at hand.
As good as Canada played in beating Honduras in the final game to qualify for the '86 WC, even more crucial was the loss of the Honduran team's equipment bags containing their shoes. They all had to wear brand new shoes for the game on a wet, heavy field and some players developed blisters that hampered their running.
Somewhere, we owe a debt of thanks to an unknown but very patriotic airline baggage handler. I bet those shoes were decorating lobster traps somewhere on the east coast.
The Germans still look like they are struggling. Obviously Gomez should not be near the pitch. In addition there are some other positions where they have looked weak. In particular on the outside of midfield. Then Sebastian gets sent off against Croatia. The team looks in disarray. I suspect that there will be a coaching change after to tournament.
Did I miss something? I thought Schweinsteiger was banned only for the Austria game and will be available against Portugal. Either way, Gomez should not even be allowed to dress. Terrible. I would play Podolski with Klose (worked well on '06) with Schweinsteiger (or even Hitzlsperger, if Bastian isn't available). But we shall see...
I was assuming a Red was 2 games. Might not be as I cant find anything about him being out for the game now that I try.
Kind of crappy scenario though if hes not and Russia would have reason to be upset considering Arshavin has been out the first 2 games for a qualifying red that carried over.
edit: never liked the 2 game rule anyways or the cumulative yellows.
i have a feeling thr france italy game is going to be a bit of a snoozefest. these 2 teams are known to be very defensive when everything is at stake. penalties might play a part in this game as well.
Conspiracy theories? The game's played off the pitch as well.
It's all there to see in the schedule and in the news. Scudamore was offered Ar5ena1's top job. Ar5ena1 have a soft sked the first two months. Second year in a row.
The Prem's a business that profits from competition for its title. They're facing the prospect of an unpopular London boutique team - Chelsea - using unlimited money to compete with the reigning two-time champs, the world's biggest club, Man Utd.
Liverpool have hamstrung themselves with boardroom civil war and that leaves the Prem needing to add someone to the mix, hence we see Ar5ena1 being propped up like some shady banana republic government. I'm sure we'll soon discover that Jack Warner has a role in all of this.
Doesn't hurt the league either to find an inducement to encourage Wenger to delay his inevitable exit to Paris St. Germain where the flow of young talent will no doubt be redirected.
Holland Romania will be. Holland took the game to the Romanians in the first half and should honestly be up 1-0. I doubt they will keep the pace up in the 2nd and it will be up to Romania to wake up and play for their tournament lives.
Domenech is just hilarious. He brings on Nasri for Ribbery then takes him off for Boumsong because he put Abidal at CB and was horribly caught out by of all strikers Toni. You cant write this stuff its comedy gold.
Do you guys think that I can coach FRANCE? You know, I will not weaken my central defense by including ABIDAL the fullback. I will know my first 11 way before the competition begin.
Domenech is just hilarious. He brings on Nasri for Ribbery then takes him off for Boumsong because he put Abidal at CB and was horribly caught out by of all strikers Toni. You cant write this stuff its comedy gold.
NASRI must be shaking his head :).
that's why I don't agree with this coach from same country BS. If we can't find a good French coach, let's hire a brazilian and teach him french.
Last edited by Thierry_Henry on June 17th at 12:41 PM.
Perrotta was clearly hurt, Michel doesn't stop play, then cautions Pirlo (who misses the next match) for the foul just to stop play, and then Evra is down injured and he stops play.
In case you missed it, Italy played the same against Romania - only the ball didn't go in that day until too late. Italy don't need Pirlo for his holding abilities, any more than Portugal don't need CR for his tackling.
Ah, I see somebody just needs to get their prescription re-filled. This is day three of the manic-obsessive posts about grassy knolls in the FA headquarters. Clearly, Mad Mel is off his meds again. Nurse!
Pathetic though they might be, the lithium-free posts from Med Mel aren't quite as dodgy as that dive in the first half. Naturally, I fully expect the blog's Italian contingent -- who place the game's honour above any petty nationalistic sniping -- to condemn it as vigourously as Malouda's slip in the box during the WC final.;-).
To be fair, though, the dive, penalty and red card pretty much evens out the nonexistent offside goal being chalked off against Romania so let's shelve those "FIFA hates the Azzuri" posts and leave Mad Mel with a monopoly on madcap conspiracy theories, OK?
As for the French, poor call or not, they don't rate any breaks based on Domenech's squad selection (nice to see Boumsong get a run out while Mexes, Distin et al watch the tourney), team selection (where he seems determined to test the old "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result") and insipid play.
What exactly is the difference between a fullback and a center back? And are these two positions that much different that a FB can't play CB? I'm not arguing that Abidal is a better CB than Thuram but surely they share enough of the same skills that if one is good at a position so should the other one be.
For what it's worth I can understand why the ref thought it was a foul (and therefore red card). In slow motion you can clearly see that Toni barely had the back of his knee tapped and that was it. Fouled or not, the dive along with it was disgraceful. If I ever get touched from behind you can be sure that I'm not going to fall down like that. It's like when one of these "men" get a forearm to the head and tumble to the ground like they've been beheaded. What a crock, I remember last year in hockey when Steve Staios got a puck in his face from a slapshot and he finished his shift.
Well, The french coach will need to update his resume as he will be searching for a job. My earlier comment about the germans- Sebastian is out one game which he already served. Podolski is a doubt which hurts. I would play Neuville upfront with Klose. He has a knack for scoring. But the team still needs help out wide. Odonkor has not shown anything at all. Sebast on one side but who on the other? German V Portugal will be an good match.
I do not think it would have mattered who Domenech would have started as it was an up hill battle no matter what. The French team are lacking skill and creativity in many areas and that has been clearly evident throughout the tournament. The players at the back are not great on the ball. Midlfield lacks creativity. Up front they do not have a lethal striker. Henry has never duplicated his form at the national level.
Domenech better stay out of france for at least 2 months.
Thats what he gets for snubbing trezeguet and bringing in that Gomis kid who did absolutely NOTHING
Why is this guy so caught up with playin toulalan and Makalele in defensive midfield. and in their previous game he played ribery in the center which I knew would not work since he had been playing the whole season on the wing with bayern. Now today he decides to play him in his proper position and he gets injured. Go figure
I dont know if its just me but I dont really fancy watching these italy games. They just seem to know how to #### the excitement out of a match. If italy score first u know exactly how the rest of the game will pan out most of the time.
I was kinda hoping romania would pull off a miracle and win and get rid of the 2 defensive powerhouses and let the teams with a little more invention and excitement duke it out But as they say style does not win matches
It's funny how Italy haters lie in wait and then claim their devotion to England, currently a banana republic in world football.
You can't make this up. Hilarious!!
How about castigating France today? They were awful
but I guess as good as England. Oh, wait I am wrong France qualified for Euro '08 so that makes them better than England.
I'm off to the doctor because me and Aldoray are going to agree on something.
Italy suck the life out of the game. This is why I try to keep my expectations modest for these attacking teams until the Germans and Italians are out and we can enjoy positive football. A dream Semis is Portugal vs Croatia and Spain vs Holland. Hopefully Germany and Italy don't ruin the party.
Italy suck the life out of the game? Are you drinking Flash's lithium?
What? What about France?
Spain will beat Italy in the Qtrs.
LGB- ah, the virtual punching bag. Good to see you make a fool of yourself again.
You are this blog's George Bush, your hero!
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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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