Netherlands vs Russia Quarterfinal- Euro, 2008 [R]

[el-capitano]

Well the magic of Guus has rubbed off yet again. This man has the lives of ten cats! :D

Will the dream run continue?

[Black Label]

Nice match-up, Russia played pretty impressive last night. They resemble the Dutch style in a way, flowing attack with an open defense.. I'm still confident we'll be able to beat them though. The Dutch should have enough experience to deal with this.

[blueguitar322]

Two very similar styles of play (at least when both teams are running on all cylinders) - fast, sharp, beautiful soccer, the way it's meant to be played. Overall the Dutch have been much sharper with their finishing and have played much stronger opposition, so they're rightfully the favorites and I can't really see them losing outside of a "blue moon" type of game.

But with Guus, who knows Netherlands as well as anyone, you never really know...

The one thing I think is most important for Russia is to not fall behind early. They played Spain hard for 20min or so until David Villa scored, and then they basically folded. This can be a weakness for a young side.

The important thing for Holland, I think, will be not turning over the ball in the midfield during the early stages of buildup. Sweden did this repeatedly and this type of situation leads to fast breaks where a lack of numbers (say 3 attackers vs. 6 defenders) can be overcome by space and movement. Russia thrived on this vs. Spain.

[Joep]

We've had some terrible news this morning. Yesterday, Boulahrouz left the training early because of family issues, and today it was announced that his new babydaughter passed away during childbirth :(

quarterfinals dont seem so important right now quite frankly

[Black Label]

It definately puts things in perspective..

[fh 1]

Hiddink has taught Russians to play Dutch-style football. And they're very good pupils, but also very young and inexperienced on international level (all play in Russian league but one). So I would put the masters above the pupils.
Holland wins 3:1.

[Dutch Treat]

I predict a craaazy scoreline like 4-3 with not so much defense, and a lot of offensive footie, and hopefully in the end we'll advance.

[1shot1kill]

I have a bad feeling about this, Hiddink has managed to get the Russian team back up and running and the entire Dutch team is hit by the loss of the prematurely-born daughter of Boulahrouz, if you look how close the team have gotten and how all of them treated each others kids after the games when celebrating with their families it seems it really has a big impact on the entire team.

I predict a craaazy scoreline like 4-3 with not so much defense, and a lot of offensive footie, and hopefully in the end we'll advance.

Is this you?
http://www.lyonpartners.nl/images/artiesten/hugo_borst.jpg

(The guy on the picture is Hugo Borst, who said the exact same thing as Dutch Treat on Dutch TV last night. :p)

[Dutch Treat]

Is this you?
http://www.lyonpartners.nl/images/artiesten/hugo_borst.jpg

(The guy on the picture is Hugo Borst, who said the exact same thing as Dutch Treat on Dutch TV last night. :p)

Haha. You probably won't believe me but I didn't catch the post-game show. Anyway, it's not hard to say things along those lines since it's pretty obvious that both teams strenght lies in their offensive play, and a defense like gatenkaas.

[glennaldo_sf]

This should be a good game. But I don't see the Russian defence handling Holland attack. Russia got wins against ageing Greece and Sweden but this Holland side are a completely different proposition. I think the Spain game was a blueprint for what is to come.... 4-1 Holland I say

[TechFootball85]

In Spain game, Russia didn't have Arshavin. Against Sweden, Russia with Arshavin played pretty great quality of football. He really stepped up and made difference. So I don't think the Dutch will spank Guus Hiddink's team like Spain did. I say Netherlands wins either 2-0 or 2-1.

[modenar1]

good luck to Holland, i hope they beat Russia, ive been waiting for the past 10 years for holland to win a Euro

[ITALIA1982]

Good Luck to Holland, they surely have played the best soccer, however if there is one country that scares me it is Russia, I do not know why, as an Italy supporter I would rather play any country except Russia...
I would not be able to make any predictions here.

[glennaldo_sf]

Good luck to both teams.. I want to see Russia go far but I just think that this is one step too far for them. Out of all of the quarterfinal matchups, I think this one has the clearest gap between favorite and underdog. But you never know in football.

Hopefully this game will be a continuum of what we've seen the last couple of days...

[AlphaOmega]

Good luck to both teams.. I want to see Russia go far but I just think that this is one step too far for them. Out of all of the quarterfinal matchups, I think this one has the clearest gap between favorite and underdog. But you never know in football.

Hopefully this game will be a continuum of what we've seen the last couple of days...

First of all, let's hope we don't get another Turkey - Croatia match ever again this tournament. Perhaps the ending was spectacular and bizarre, the rest of the match was sheer anti-football, I think my brain would've been more entertained watching the linoleum curl up in the kitchen. Second of all, If the game is to continue like we have seen so before, this would mean the runners up will beat all group winners in their respective quarterfinals. This would be undesirable, as i am hoping at last some teams left (spain, holland) will take their chances to actually win every match, including the final, making them actually deserve the cup fully. It's been a while since that has happened.

More on topic: Whichever team displays the most aggressive and creative style of play should win this. Most probably a Holland win. But then again, that's what almost everyone also was saying about the potential winner of Portugal - germany, who later turned out to be out. These russians play a style that is a lot like the czechs in 2000-2004. unfortunately one doesnt sharpen players as easily as one does a pencil, many of their players make tons of mistakes. especially in defense. This is a great weakness, dominating teams who keep the pace high can exploit this, and i expect holland to do so too. Ball possesion will be high for the dutch. Not that that is a guarantee they will win, it all depends on efficiency and form of the day in the end. And the russian side also has a very good and creative attackwing that can lay siege to the toughest defending sides.

[Borussia]

I'm looking forward to a hopefully exciting game tonight! :)

Quotation from Guus Hiddink: "I hope to be a traitor." ;)


Holland are the clear favs ... but these Russians will surely have a chance if they manage to play as they did against Sweden!

[benztown]

I expect a great match with many goals. I still think that Hollands only weakness is their defense, even though it has looked quite solid so far. But they haven't encountered an opponent who's so attacking minded.

Russia's defense seems even more vulnerable and their attack is less clinical. So Holland has to be the favorite. But Russia has the heart to make up for it, such a thing has happened before.

Anyway, as a neutral in this match, I just hope to be entertained and this pairing should guarantee it. :cool:

[Todorov]

Oh, Mother Russia will surprise the Dutch...:cool:

2-1 for the Russians.

[1shot1kill]

Holland will have the same 11 starting as vs Italy and France.

[banok]

I will take goalvideo links in my site (http://stream.try.hu) on this match.