I'm rooting for Russia from now on,, Holland got a lesson in mentality and fighting spirit. they didn't deserve it from the start. Hiddink got us by the balls,, big time...
Likely because the manager of the Italy / Spain winner won't be daft enough to not pay special attention to Arshavin. Remember, without him this Russian team was thrashed 4-1 by Spain and got as good as they gave in a 1-0 squeaker against Greece. As I posted before, designate a destroyer to follow him around the field and watch the Russian attack resort to the caliber of those first two matches.
Don't fool yourself, this Russian team has yet to offer its best football. And I strongly believe theres more to see from these young ''stars'' in later stages, hopefully Final! This is what I call a team. No stars(Except for Arshavin) that I bet most people didn't even heard of him before Euro08, just pure team work, and greater desire to win(pride). The beautiful game, keeps getting better and better. GO RUSSIA!!!!!!!!!
To anyone who still thinks Robben is not a vital player to the dutch, today was the perfect example how much they needed him in the attack. They couldn't get anything going.
some strange decisions by van Basten, Boulahrouz, who I don't care for but why take him out so soon, he wasted a sub for another defender, there was no need at that time, when he did I thought Robben would be coming on...surely Boulahrouz could have gone another 15 without drawing another yellow if that's was the reason...bring on a defender if you have an injury to another defender or when you're trying to end the match but that wasn't the situation at the time... Affelay wtf? he has a good future but some of his decisions showed his inexperince where the hell was Robben? was he injured? the traditional overlapping runs from Oranje dissappeared, ended up with many many individuals with their back to the Russian goal recieving the ball to feet then attempting to turn their defender trying to win the game on their own, futile...was this a van Basten change of tactic or individual acts of desperation? at this level of play fitness shouldn't be an issue but the Russians were clearly the fitter side, Oranje were dead on their feet in extra time...fitness is something where no team should have an edge over another, it's inexcusable(unless your old,Sweden) Russian defending awesome, closed down Oranje at every opportunity 1,2 and 3 Russians repeatedly surrounding and disposessing Holland in the mid-field time and time again then countering... and when the Oranje regained possesion their own counter was met by layers of white shirts who were already back waiting for them... Great game...congrats to Russia superb effort...congatulations to Guus, brilliant tactictian worth every Euro the Russians pay him...Archavin great player but he should have been isolated...in the end Oranje was beaten at their own game...I backin' Russia now, Hup Rusland Hup! my ref complaints... foul in the russian peanlty area on an Oranje free kick, a defender clearly had two hands on an oranje player's shoulders(not sure who) pulling him back and preventing him from making a run to the ball, for me clear penalty...maybe I was the only person to see it, tv people certianly didn't first Russian goal came from a dive, vPersie was about to advance upfield after sheilding the ball a russian goes down clutching his face, change possesion free kick russia, ball remains in Nederlands end, goal...replay showed russian was never struck on the face, he should have been carded instead it was 0-1...
It was van Nistelrooy who missed that opportunity, and yes the shirt pull probably saved a goal. It looked to me that Persie hit Zhiranov in the face, but that he didn't know much about it and was trying to shield him away from the ball without looking.
True but it was more a result of some excellent Russian midfield play that pretty much didn't allow any wing penetration. this was a match that Ryan Babel might have made a difference.
I just noticed... REMATCH.... Guus Hiddink vs Italy or Spain. Hiddink has won one and lost once against each of them. Now we will see which one of those two are in conditions to face Hiddink again.
hard luck guys this takes away my dream germany-holland final. it seems like russia deserved to win but I wonder how holland managed to not put up enough of a fight...from what I have heard it looks like they were scared. (against russia!? - I mean going by reputation). I have not watched the game but will on replay soon.
What happened in extra time was that the Dutch appeared to tire and the Russians were in better shape. During most of the match the Russians held the better amount of play and clogged up the Dutch attack. But the Russians looked shaky all day on set pieces and in the end the Dutch equalized off just that.
The funny thing about that is that the most of the starting lineup from the Dutch had about a couple of more days to rest then their Russian counterparts. This is great knews for the sport. Russia has all but one playing the Russian Premier League and yet they have come to this heights. Netherlands, which over half of the squad plays in the richest leagues of the world, were outperformed. Money doesn't buy everything and that puts a smile on my face. There is still hope to bring football above money after all.
In my very humble opinion, Russia was like an untapped mine of talent. The Russian team during the 90s had the talent, but no one to put it all together. Now Hiddink comes in, with the help of the new wealth in Russia, and puts a professional touch on the team and it reaches its best result since independence. The warning shot was probably fired this year by Zenit in the UEFA Cup. With many of the players you saw today they took apart Bayern Munich and were led by a Dutch coach as well.
You'll be really surprised how easily the Russians outplayed the best team of the group stage, especially in extra time despite the fact that they had only 3 days of resting... Hiddink's team played superbly (Holland was pretty lucky to score the late equalizer) during the whole 120 minutes, but this poor performance of Oranje really shocked me! How could this happen after all the confidence you should have gained during the impressive first round play? Maybe it would have been better if Van Basten rested only 3-4 players against Romania instead of almost the whole A team... Btw: Will you allow the "traitor" Guus Hiddink to ever enter Dutch soil again?
Like the Croatians and Portuguese. Really weird... So you wanna tell us that clubs like Zenit and Spartak don't pay good money in the meanwhile?
I thought Engelaar had a pretty solid game, but was subbed out due to tactical reasons. The Dutch defense as a whole was horrible outside of a fairly decent game from Ooijer. Van Der Vaart had a horrible game and honestly didn't contribute anything for my money, except for his free kick deliveries which Wesley could have also provided. Sneijder and Ruud tried to put their mark on the game, but it just didn't seem like much was happening, especially for Sneijder. RVN held the ball up well, but often had no support. It seemed like the spacing in the final third was dreadful. Too often RVN, Sneijder, and VanderVaart were within 5 yards of each other just breathing down each other's neck.
Especially after Heitinga came in... Simply unbelievable how much space he granted to his opponent! Never seen a worse RB before.
I am not saying that. I am also not saying money is bad. But for most footballers in Europe, it is a no brainer that they are more worried about how much they are getting and what kind of deal they can get instead of playing. Players like Andrei Arshavin are what we need these days. He already has turned down offers from huge clubs in Western Europe just to stay with Zenit. And it showed in the whole team so far in this tournament. First, play football. Second, worry about what kind of offers and deals and how much money they will get.
I wonder if the Russians see this as revenge for the Netherlands beating the Soviet Union 2-0 in West Germany 1988... Either way, another rematch awaits Gus Hiddink vs Spain or Italy. Hiddink beat both teams in the South Korea & Japan 2002. Spain beat Hiddink in Russia's first game in Austria & Switzerland 2008. Italy beat Hiddink in Germany 2006. Which of those two do people think are in conditions to face Russia & Hiddink?
I don't get a chance to follow Ajax or Sevilla much, but it seems Heitinga and Boulahrouz both seem a more natural fit at CB. Boula looked horrible as a right back in the prem, yet he is still played there. I think he gets a pass for his lack luster performance due to the passing of his unborn child, but perhaps he shouldn't have even been out there to begin with. Shoddy passing as well as terribly mis timed tackles, and i'm usually a huge fan of play.
I said it earlier -- the lopsided goal difference that Holland had in the group stages covered over the fact that they were quite lucky not too have conceded more. MvB subs Robben in against France, he scores a goal he has no business scoring, and Marco is a genius. This time around the subs didn't work (Affelay was horrible) and Marco is suddenly not such a good coach. If Ruud connects on the free kick, or if Gio is a little taller, or Nigel de Jong is a little taller, then Oranje go through and Marco remains a genius. In reality, Oranje were never as good as their goal differential suggested, nor as rubbish as some say after tonight's display. Having said that, their conditioning was apparently lacking today, as their display in extra time showed. Nice run, shame it couldn't have been longer.
One thing I don't get. Netherlands had 3-4 days extra to rest. Why were their fitness so low compared to a team that played all of their starting lineup against Sweden?