No Goals, But Plenty of Action in Argentine-Dutch Clash
June 21, 2006
The Dutch team, who like the Argentines posted two victories over group rivals Serbia and Montenegro and Ivory Coast, finished in second place on goal difference and will play Group D winners Portugal in Nuremberg on Sunday. The Argentines will meet Mexico in Leipzig in the second round on Saturday.
Argentina had a raft of chances throughout the match, and Dutch coach Marco van Basten had two fine first-half clearances by defender Khalid Boulahrouz and one outstanding save late in the game by Edwin van der Sar to thank for a clean sheet.
Messi, Tevez create havoc
Argentine strikers Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez, along with midfield duo Maxi Rodriguez and Juan Riquelme, caused havoc in the Dutch defense early on with their tight combinations of fast, accurate passing and blistering counter-attacking speed.
Teenage sensation Messi made his mark in the eighth minute, playing a dangerous through ball into the area, which Boulahrouz just managed to get his foot to ahead of the onrushing Esteban Cambiasso and Nicolas Burdisso.
Man-of-the-match Tevez had a chance just after the quarter-hour, turning inside Phillip Cocu and unleashing a powerful left-footed shot just past the outside post of captain van der Sar, who was winning his 112th cap to draw level on all-time appearances for the Oranje with Frank de Boer.
The Netherlands' best chance came a minute later, but Dirk Kuyt drilled a shot just wide. Van der Sar was then called into action in the 27th minute to punch away a swerving Riquelme corner.
From the ensuing corner Kuyt brought down Tevez on the edge of the box and the Dutch fans had the imposing 1.91m frame of Boulahrouz to thank again as he lunged to fend off the free-kick from Tevez's feet onto the post and away. Rodriguez then watched in agony as his blistering half-volley beat van der Sar but drifted late and shaved off the post.
On the stroke of half-time, van der Sar saved a Messi shot after the Barcelona striker was allowed far too much time in front of goal.
The second-half started with Riquleme taking advantage of the Dutch defense standing off to fire a shot that narrowly missed goal, and Rodriguez following up shortly after with a shot that flew high.
Van der Sar saves the day
But the Dutch did manage to clamp down on the Argentineans, Wesley Sneijder and Cocu -- winning his 100th cap -- dropping into deeper positions to nullify the threat of the free-running Tevez.
But the Netherlands were obviously lacking the creative spark provided by the rested Arjen Robben, Giovanni van Bronkhorst and Mark Van Bommel. That said, the Dutch pressure almost paid off in the 67th minute, Cocu going close after good work by Rafael van der Vart. With Messi and Riquelme both replaced by coach Jose Pekerman, the game fizzled out somewhat and swung towards the Dutch.
But it was fittingly left to the record-equaling van der Sar to save the day for the Dutch, defying his 35 years to superbly palm away a great strike by Tevez in the 73rd minute.
The Oranje Army again invaded Frankfurt for the match with airlines in the Netherlands laying on 32 flights to the German city on Wednesday.
Officially only 6,200 fans came with a ticket but it was estimated that 25,000 fans would be in the 48,000-seater stadium and up to 40,000 more in the city.
There was also a sizeable number of Argentine supporters, many sporting the No. 10 shirt favored by Diego Maradona, with flags and scarves tied to their wrists. Maradona himself was seen in the stands along with his daughter, passionately cheering on the Argentine side.
The Elephants Claw Back
The other "Group of Death" game saw a spirited Ivory Coast coming from behind to beat Serbia & Montenegro 3-2. The Elephants fought back from two goals down to clinch their first World Cup win in an entertaining and fiercely-fought battle on Wednesday in Munich, played in pouring rain, to avoid ending bottom of Group C.
Despite being eliminated from the World Cup, both heavily-changed teams went at it hammer and tongs from the start before a capacity 66,000 crowd in a bid to restore their pride. Although Ivory Coast had the best of the play in the first ten minutes, their trio of newcomers at the back were caught out by long high balls from Serbia and Montenegro's.
Serbia, seeking self-respect after a 6-0 drubbing by Argentina, took the lead in the 10th minute with striker Nikola Zigic slotting in the ball after a long pass by Dejan Stankovic. They built up on the result in the 19th minute after a botched clearance by Ivory Coast stand-in Captain Cyrille Domoraud was seized by Sasa Ilic.
The Ivorians however made up in the 36th minute with Arune Dindane neatly netting a twice-taken penalty. The strengthened Ivorians dominated in the second half and Dindane once again showed his class by heading in a Kader Keita cross in the 67th minute.
The Ivorians weren't finished as yet when Kalou stepped up to score and seal a historic victory for Ivory Coast.