Quarter Final Netherlands vs. Russia Preview - Guus Hiddink is looking to continue his fantastic run at major tournaments. He took the Netherlands and South Korea to the last four at World Cups in 1998 and 2002 and Australia to the last sixteen two summers ago in Germany. If he can take his young Russian side to the last four at Euro 2008 it will be a match for any of his previous achievements.
To reach the semi final Russia has to beat the Netherlands and players that Hiddink has more than a passing knowledge of. The teams have reached this stage in very different ways but both could be regarded as surprises based on their preliminary qualifying performances.
Russia seemed to have lost their chance when they lost away to Israel after hitting the post late in the game and then conceding a devastating winner to Israel only seconds later. They were left having to beat Andorra in their last game and praying for a win by Croatia at Wembley.
Despite having already qualified Croatia did beat England and Russia stumbled to a 1-0 win against tiny Andorra. Eighteen goals in twelve games was not overly impressive considering that the group included the likes of Andorra and Estonia. First and third place Croatia and England scored considerably more goals.
The Netherlands qualified as runners up to Romania and only a point ahead of Bulgaria. However, the one point gap is not a fair reflection of the degree of difficulty as the Dutch wrapped up a qualifying spot with two games to go.
But a lacks of goals was a common connection between Russia and Netherlands. The Dutch only scored fifteen goals in 12 games and struggled to 1-0 wins over Luxembourg twice.
There was no hint of the type of football we have seen over the last two weeks from either of these sides. Goals have flowed from the Dutch through devastating counter attacks executed at speed combined with lethal finishing.
Ruud van Nistelrooy has led the attack magnificently while Sneijder and van der Vaart who have generally operated just behind him have both enjoyed spectacular tournaments.
The defense has confounded critics having only conceded one goal to date. Based on their three performances and pedigree the Dutch come into this game as strong favourites.
Few would have thought that Russia would be in this position after an opening game loss to Spain. But the 4-1 scoreline was not a fair reflection of the play. Russia was severely punished (particularly by David Villa) for some sloppy defensive play while they were unable to take advantage of some less than stellar defending by Spain. In truth the game could have finished 5-3 or 5-4.
Since then Hiddink has tinkered with his back four (or back two as the full backs push forward) but has remained commited to Russia playing an aggressive, attacking and entertaining form of football. The return of Arshavin for the third game against Swede and his performance garnered the headlines but there were a number of other fine performances that day that bode well for the fixture against Netherlands.
Denis Kolodin has settled down at the centre of the Russian defence after a disasterous start against Spain. Zhirkov playing has a left back (he can play anyplace on the left side) is a fantastic player to watch while the other full back Anyukov seems to spend more time in the opposition penalty area than his own. In midfield Semak, Zyryanov and Bilyaletdinov have all caught the eye.
However, Russia does seem to missing a reliable striker. Roman Pavlyuchenko came on to score twice against England in Moscow and has scored twice at Euro 2008 but he does not score enough given the chances that come his way.
Referee: Lubos Michel, assistants: Roman Slysko, Martin Balko (all Slovakia), fourth official: Massimo Busacca (Switzerland)
Netherland 1-3 Russia (After extra time) I know it’s not new or original but I’m going to say it anyway “the Russians are coming, the Russians are coming.” And in the process they are playing some fantastic football. We got to see an additional 30 minutes of it today but in truth Russia was so far ahead of the Netherlands that it should not have needed extra time.
The Dutch that had being so lethal in the group stage was blunted by a Russian midfield of Zyryanov, Semak and Semshov but this performance had nothing to do with negating Dutch strengths. It was about Russia playing to their own strengths.
And their strengths where a pleasure to behold. No frightened through football here. Composure on the ball, constantly working hard to provide an option to teammates in possession, beautifully timed runs and craftily struck passes. It was all on display and you were left wanting more. The only thing that was missing was a ruthless streak in front of goal during the first 90 minutes.
Russia took the initiative right from the kickoff and had the Netherlands on the back foot for most of the first half. It to the Dutch almost half an hour to mount any kind of sustained pressure and ironically it nearly cost them a goal. Russia was able to counter attack and the end result was a magnificent save by Edwin van der Sar from an Andrei Arshavin (does he remind anyone else of Michael Ladrup?) shot. The Dutch goalkeeper was called into action again shortly after and made another fine save this time after a long-range effort from center back Kolodin.
As half time drew near there was some encouragement for Dutch fans as Russia started togive away the ball more frequently. Nevertheless half time arrived without a goal. But within 10 minutes of the restart Russia was a goal up. Russia had been relentless in attacking down the left side and this time the ball was fed out to Semak alone on the left wing.
He swung in an inviting cross and Pavlyuchenko timed his run beautifully to beat the Dutch marker and Russia was a goal up. The Dutch were forced to push forward but Russia looked like the team more likely to score on the counter. But despite numerous chances and as the game appeared to to be entering the closing stages there was still only a one goal separating the teams.
The most consistent threat from the Netherlands had come from set pieces and from a free kick out on the left side they scored the goal that forced extra time. A deliciously inviting cross from Sneijder was swung in, Ignashevich was caught on the wrong side of Ruud van Nistelrooy and the Real Madrid striker stooped low to head home.
It was a goal that must’ve brought contradictory feelings to the neutrals watching. On one hand a Russian win that was truly deserved had been hauled from their grasp; conversely we had another 30 minutes of wonderful football to look forward to.
In the past Russian teams would have folded in the face of such adversity and injustice but not this one. They continued to dominate the extra 30 minutes and not surprisingly it was Arshavin who finally killed the Netherlands off.
He set up the winner for substitute Torbinski and then administered the coup de grace as he drilled the ball through the legs of Edwin van der Sar. A deserved win for Russia and the Netherlands again prove the early accolades to be premature.
Note: As the media jump on the Arshavin bandwagon regular readers of the blog will not be surprised at his impact. Back in the fall(?) I think it was craigy_f who first brought him to everyone’s attention when Zenit St. Petersburg played Everton in the UEFA Cup.
Comment of the Day “Much has been made of Van Basten's Holland rediscovering the joys of total football, but that is misleading. Yes, they are fluid and good to watch, but they are a more direct, counter-attacking side than their forebears of 30 years ago. Russia, arguably, given their commitment to attack, are rather closer in ethos to Michels' side, but the resemblance is largely superficial.
For one thing, neither side operates with a libero; for another, neither plays in the 4-3-3 (or, more accurately, 1-3-3-3) shape Johan Cruyff always insisted was essential for total football.
The context, equally, is very different. Part of the reason for the impact of Michels' and Lobaonvskyi's sides were that they were pressing and playing an aggressive offside trap in an era when nobody else was.
Everybody presses now. In their commitment to fluidity Russia and the Netherlands can probably claim to play a form of the game as close to total football as is possible in the modern age, but it should not be forgotten that for Russia that means pursuing their own tradition as much as adapting their approach to suit the heritage of their manager.” – Jonathan Wilson.
Prediction Update Not many picked Turkey while a good number of you had Croatia reaching the semi final. I have a feeling that the prediction league is going to be very close at the conclusion of the quarter finals.
Should be a pretty back and forth game... If anyone in this tournament can shove the game the Dutch have been playing back down their throat it's Russia (and was Portugal)... Should be a lot of chances in this one, I wouldn't be suprised to see 5 if not 7 goals in this one... But with that said, the Dutch win easily...
Bobby: Why did FIFA throw out the 2nd group phase and adopt the current 2nd round knock-out system for country tournaments?
It seems like the group system is the best way to qualify and eliminate teams, while the knock-out system will inevitably have an element of controversy to it (i.e. penalty shout-outs, costly bad calls, etc). Not that a "perfect world" exists, but I am curious why FIFA insists that knock-out phase for the 2nd round is the best system they can think of.
Who was the #### talking smack about Turkey last thread? He obviously doesn't get the Turkey/German connection. Nor does he seem to understand that desire, will, heart and tenacity go a long in every facet of life; football included. The Turks have shown plenty of moxie and my hat is off to them.
I also have to disagree with anyone saying Portugal is a much better side than Germany. True Germany didn't dominate Portugal, but at what positions are Portugal better.
GK-no
CB- no, Carvahlo yes but on whole no
LB- No
RB- yes but barely, Bosingwa didn't lookl that good
CM- Not even close, NO
Wingers- yes
Strikers- not even close, no.
So by my score Portugal have better wingers. Clearly they are better.
So far, good first half of the game Holland-Russia. Russia played better in the first 20 minutes. They had three great chances with Van der Sar making three great saves. Akinfeev was also busy with two saves.
Definitely better than yesterday. You have to assume that the subs will turn it up to exploit the Russians tiring. I don't know how deep the Russians go on the bench. This has all the makings of a late winner for the Dutch despite the good play of Hiddink's team.
I assume you're referring to the Argentina-Peru game of 78. I'd point out that the even more egregious Austria-West Germany game occurred in the first group phase of 82.
I'm too young to remember but if I had to guess it would be like the CL about 4-5 years ago when they had a second group phase. I'd say its because it is too many fixtures.
AS for the game, it was a stupid move to take Kuyt off and put in RVP. And to not bring in Robben at all? Wow...
It was much more than the Argentina game because they kept if for 1982. It was unfair given that one or both teams playing the last game knew exactly what they had to do to qualify and the number of drawn games increased as teams were happy to take a point.
The result wasn't all that unpredictable. You had to know that Holland was in deep before the game started. Like I said before, you can only push the turbo button so many times... Look for a similar fate to Spain tomorrow imo. There are very few certainties in sports and when you have teams that play extremely good games several times in a row, the odds start to increase that their next game won't be so great.
As far as I can recall, the Dutch didn't have one cross other than set plays. Remember their first game and how many time Van Bronckhorst was sprinting down the flanks? That didn't happen once. Every ball went to the center where it was usually taken away immediately by three surrounding Russian players. I wouldn't only say that the Dutch played poorly, I would say they played very strange...
The second round of the '82 WC was really screwed up.As the first WC with 24 teams they weren't sure what format to use ,and went with four groups of three in the second round.This not only led to the situatiion where you had Brzil ,Argentina and Italy in one group ,Spain ,West Germany and England in another ,but also France ,Austria and Northern Ireland in a group together.
It led to the situation where one team was left watching the final game and the others knew exactly what was needed to progress.
In England's group West Germany beat Spain 2-1 ,England and Spain drew 0-0 ,and that left England needing to beat the Germans by two goals to move on.Not surprisingly that also ended 0-0 ,with Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking making their only appearances of the tournament in the last twenty minutes ,after Ron Greenwood had picked them knowing they where injured ,they never played again.
That format left open the very real chance of two teams finishing with identical records ,which luckily didn't happen. But did happen at a Gold Cup where Canada and Japan? went to the toss of a coin ,Canada won and went on to win the whole thing.
gong:
I think the lineup Donadoni is reportedly going with is probably the best one:
Buffon, Zambrotta, Panucci, Chiellini, Grosso, De Rossi, Ambrosini, Aquilani, Perrotta, Cassano, Toni. If all were available I would use Pirlo instead of Ambrosini.
The first three group winners are all out - hope to see the fourth get eliminated tomorrow, but Spain are undoubtedly the toughest of the lot; I still think they are currently the tournament favorites.
Yes, I would like to see Ambrosini replaced by MC but then it's down to different tactics.
Cassano work rate was good and created havoc for the French and if he can prove to be less selfish on the ball then he'll get even better. Del Piero may fit in against a side like Spain as would DiNatale.
I can see this game going either way but if Toni can exploit Spain's CB's and their FB's can't attack like they have in all Group D's games then Italy has a chance.
Otherwise it's a long game with those fantastic Spanish ball handlers in midfield along with the potent strike force of Villa and Torres.
Yes, Ringo thanks for the tip of the hat for '82, ah what a fine year that was.
And as VVV and gong know only too well ,back in '82 Italy and an unknown Cameroon finished tied for second in their group after drawing all three games.
Italy had two 1-1's and a 0-0 ,Cameroon had two 0-0's and a 1-1.
Cameroon went home ,Italy went through ,and it didn't work out too bad for them after that.
Another reason you should never write off the Germans.
"Rossi ,Tardelli ,Al-to-belli"
Heard that all night long in Madrid after the game.
Nobody remembers how you win it, just that you win it. Like I said at the beginning of this tournament - I don't care who the favorites are, or which teams are playing the prettiest football, and in fact would rather if some other team 'deserves' it. It takes heart and passion to win big games, and Italy always seem to have an ample supply when it matters. They may well lose to Spain tomorrow, but the Spanish will have to earn it.
Tomorrow, a lot will depend on if Toni can finally find his scoring touch; he is Italy's only real scoring threat. He was equally sterile for much of WC 2006. He receives as much service as any striker in the competition, in particular several excellect crosses, and with his significant height advantage over Puyol and Marchena, he should be very dangerous.
"In the past Russian teams would have folded in the face of such adversity and injustice [when RVN scored the Netherland's last gasp tying goal in the face of a deserved Russian victory] but not this one."
Bobby, you have also reminded us several times that in the past Soviet/ Russian teams have not travelled well.
Today, though, the Russian support was incredible-- it seems like they were all that one heard (on TV, anyway), chanting throughout the match. Much louder than the Dutch (not counting the Dutch colour scheme, of course ...).
I can't help wondering if the great travelling support the Russian team seems to be getting will contribute to the road prospects for the Russian team improving in the future-- compared to the Soviet/ early post-Soviet era, when far fewer supporters were allowed out of the country, or had the means to travel abroad, than is the case now.
They went to groups of three? Wow, thats a pretty bad idea!
The fullbacks for Italy are going to be key tomorrow. Italy can't let Spain utilize its speed and around the edges is where its going to be prevelant. I also expect Italy to play a deep back line so as to not allow Torres and Villa the space to get in behind the defense.
So that leaves it up to Toni, and Gong you better hope he can do all that you said he could do because he might be up on his own for much of the game.
Still I think Italy nicks it at the end....I just see Spain finding a way to lose. Giving away a penalty or something...
How could Roman possibly not buy Arshavin now? He's got to be going to Chelsea.
I think Pavylcenko (yeah I know I spelled it wrong) would be great for Arsenal - a fiercer, more lethal Bentdner.
That Russian team was just great to watch. I liked the Dutch, but they didn't deserve this one.
Also liked Sneider (there's a J in there somewhere, I know) at the end of the first half when he kept launching bombs at goal. Same with that big Russian centre back who kept coming up to shoot from 40 yards out.
Spain's weakest point is at the back. They are very talented in midfield and upfront, but Italy have the edge at the back and in goal. We'll see who can make their advantage count.
leche - I will agree that Modric did not have a "Modric" type of tournament. However, he did show enough brilliance on the field to convince many he will be a great investment for Tottenham and one of the best players in the world for many years. I have no doubt about that. I also feel had Croatia managed to go through, Modric's influence would have continuosly increased throughout the tournament.
lgb,
I don't like making excuses when my team goes down. The only thing that matters is who scored the most goals at the of the day and excuses will not bring back glory.
In terms of Bilic's tactics,
I'd say the Game against Germany was an A+ on his part. However, yesterday against the Turks, I'd say it was a C-.
I personally would have selected two strikers against the Turks to create more pressure on the Turkish defense. I know people say you should stick with the winning formula. I personally disagree. You have to make changes to counter your opponent's game.
Kranjcar should have been taken off at the start of the second half. He wasn't getting better and should have been substituted by Klasnic, not Petric. Bilic had to much faith in a player who has not been in form. Klasnic on the other hand wanted to excell so bad. He would have been my choice for starter.
Bilic also only made two substitutions the entire game. He should have made full use of his subbs in such a grueling match. The consequence of this was a tired Croatia squad struggling to remain on the field towards the end ot the game.
In any case, good luck to Turkey. As for Croatia, I feel they can only get better with the up and coming young talent.
Modric is 22, while Rakitic is 20. lol they both missed. My choice for penalty takers would still have been Modric as nr. 3 though.
It would go like this: Srna, Klasnic, Modric, Niko Kovac, Corluka
I was also expecting the Russians to have a glorious defeat, but they kept up great pace and made every attack count. As "shmish" (real name or affluenced by incohol?) said no wing play or much of anything from the Dutch. They really offered little in the way of a physical challenge, which is where the Russians look lightweight. January in Hull might seem like the Riviera to Arshavin, should he go west, but he might find EPL or La Liga defenses less gentle than the Dutch.
Will the Spanish step up or get brushed aside in the same way tomorrow? If the Spanish win then the Russians might have a chance. The Russians may be coming but Germany could be waiting for them.
I think The Dutch team started to believe the hype a bit too much - they just didn't seem up for it like they were in there first two matches. The Italians never get caught up in all the hyp surrounding them - maybe that's because there never is any!
Just because players shine in this tournament, don't expect them to become stars. Charisteas was lethal last time around. Who?
If there is one thing MVB could have done better, that is substitution management. Due to the Behlahrouz situation, he committed all subs too early, while the russians had later subs that also helped/scored in overtime. I feel that Robben would have been much better than van Persie in overtime, given the open space. It is not clear if MVB was thinking about the possibility of overtime, even at halftime.
What are we trying to accomplish? I would like to minimize the amount of times a team like Croatia who were never behind in a game during the entire tournament, tied their last game through 120 minutes, and still goes home. If they're in a second group phase, they would still have the opportunity to accumulate points. I also think it leads to better play as an early loss (just like group phase 1) doesn't eliminate you.
Bobby mentioned the draws in group phase 2, but the stats don't back that up. There were 8 draws in 36 group phase 2 matches in the World Cups of 74, 78, and 82. There would have been 13 draws in the round of 16 and quarterfinal matches (also out of 36) and 7 penalty shoot-outs in the World Cups of 86, 90, and 94.
We're used to teams needing draws to advance (the 2nd legs of Champions League play, group phase 1 of tournaments, etc.). That's not odd because the tie is an essential part of football and has been forever. Arguing against a second group phase because of that is arguing against the group phase in general. If you're going to do that, then let's just make these pure knockout tournaments from the beginning.
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