On Friday, Holland followed in the footsteps of Portugal and Croatia to advance to the quarter-finals as group winners, however, the Dutch did it in sublime fashion.
Holland proved their 3-0 victory over Italy in the first round was no fluke as they cruised past France with a 4-1 thrashing.Goals from Dirk Kuyt and his replacement Robin van Persie set the pace for Holland. Thierry Henry pulled one back before Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder completed the rout.Earlier, world champions Italy continued to disappoint as they slipped to a 1-1 draw against Romania who wasted a chance to win the game when Adrian Mutu's 80th minute spot-kick was denied by Gianluigi Buffon.
Man of the Day: Arjen Robben
Coach Marco van Basten introduced Robben after the break with the score 1-0 for Holland. The Real Madrid winger, who was recovering from injury made all the difference for Holland. His first order of business was to set-up Van Persie for the Oranje's second. It was a swift counter attack involving Ruud van Nistelrooy and Robben who raced away from the chasing defenders before crossing low and hard for Van Persie, who had only been on the field for four minutes, to volley in.Robben was again the changing factor in the game when he responded by scoring Holland's third goal, only one minute after Henry had reduced the deficit.The former Chelsea player darted towards goal and unleashed an unstoppable drive past keeper Gregory Coupet from a very tight angle to maintain Holland's two-goal cushion.
Goal of the Day: Wesley's Sneijder's goal against France
Just when the French thought things couldn't get any worse, Sneijder put salt on their wounds with a dazzling goal deep in injury time.With the score already 3-1 and the victory only seconds away the Dutch showed no sign of slowing down. Sneijder collected the ball just outside France's box, he turned and fired a fierce shot that hit the crossbar before settling in the back of the net.
Save of the Day: Gianluigi Buffon
It's true that great sportsmen step up when their team really needs them, and things weren't any different in Buffon's case.
The Juventus guardian took the captain's armband following Alessandro Del Piero's exit, and he demonstrated what a true leader he really is by keeping Italy in contention.With the score 1-1 in the 80th minute, Christian Panucci committed a penalty and Mutu stepped up to take the kick that could give Romania their first win at EURO 2008.Buffon made his presence felt when he got a hand to it before a fortunate ricochet off his boot carried the ball over the bar to stop Italy from suffering a humiliating first round exit, at least until they take on France.
Play of the Day: Romanian players colliding
The play of the day was quite unfortunate as Romania midfielder Mirel Radoi was taken from the field with his eye bandaged after a clash of heads with team-mate Razvan Rat, who emerged unscathed."He will require eye surgery and has a broken nose. He will not play against Holland (on Tuesday) and is unlikely to play again in the tournament," coach Victor Piturca told a news conference.
Tactic of the Day: Marco van Basten and the wingers
Just as he orchestrated the 3-0 win over Italy, Van Basten was once again in the driver's seat on Friday, calling all the plays that sunk the French ship.Van Basten started the game with a 4-5-1 formation with Van Nistelrooy as his talisman and the trio of Sneijder to the left, Van der Vaart in the middle and Kuyt to the right.Everyone expected Holland to hold back after finishing the first-half ended in a 1-0 lead. However, Van Basten opted to keep the pressure on the French and pulled out Kuyt and Engelaar and replaced them with Robben and Van Persie.By doing so, Van Basten shifted his tactic from using a playmaker- Van der Vaart- to operating with two wingers using a 4-3-3 formation.The tactical change allowed the Dutch to use the speed of Van Persie and Robben to startle the French defense while Sneijder and Van der Vaart were used as central midfielders to orchestrate the play while keeping things safe in midfield.This shift in tactics kept France under pressure and got the best of the relatively slower French defense and resulted in the wide-margin victory.
Holland proved their 3-0 victory over Italy in the first round was no fluke as they cruised past France with a 4-1 thrashing.Goals from Dirk Kuyt and his replacement Robin van Persie set the pace for Holland. Thierry Henry pulled one back before Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder completed the rout.Earlier, world champions Italy continued to disappoint as they slipped to a 1-1 draw against Romania who wasted a chance to win the game when Adrian Mutu's 80th minute spot-kick was denied by Gianluigi Buffon.
Man of the Day: Arjen Robben
Coach Marco van Basten introduced Robben after the break with the score 1-0 for Holland. The Real Madrid winger, who was recovering from injury made all the difference for Holland. His first order of business was to set-up Van Persie for the Oranje's second. It was a swift counter attack involving Ruud van Nistelrooy and Robben who raced away from the chasing defenders before crossing low and hard for Van Persie, who had only been on the field for four minutes, to volley in.Robben was again the changing factor in the game when he responded by scoring Holland's third goal, only one minute after Henry had reduced the deficit.The former Chelsea player darted towards goal and unleashed an unstoppable drive past keeper Gregory Coupet from a very tight angle to maintain Holland's two-goal cushion.
Goal of the Day: Wesley's Sneijder's goal against France
Just when the French thought things couldn't get any worse, Sneijder put salt on their wounds with a dazzling goal deep in injury time.With the score already 3-1 and the victory only seconds away the Dutch showed no sign of slowing down. Sneijder collected the ball just outside France's box, he turned and fired a fierce shot that hit the crossbar before settling in the back of the net.
Save of the Day: Gianluigi Buffon
It's true that great sportsmen step up when their team really needs them, and things weren't any different in Buffon's case.
The Juventus guardian took the captain's armband following Alessandro Del Piero's exit, and he demonstrated what a true leader he really is by keeping Italy in contention.With the score 1-1 in the 80th minute, Christian Panucci committed a penalty and Mutu stepped up to take the kick that could give Romania their first win at EURO 2008.Buffon made his presence felt when he got a hand to it before a fortunate ricochet off his boot carried the ball over the bar to stop Italy from suffering a humiliating first round exit, at least until they take on France.
Play of the Day: Romanian players colliding
The play of the day was quite unfortunate as Romania midfielder Mirel Radoi was taken from the field with his eye bandaged after a clash of heads with team-mate Razvan Rat, who emerged unscathed."He will require eye surgery and has a broken nose. He will not play against Holland (on Tuesday) and is unlikely to play again in the tournament," coach Victor Piturca told a news conference.
Tactic of the Day: Marco van Basten and the wingers
Just as he orchestrated the 3-0 win over Italy, Van Basten was once again in the driver's seat on Friday, calling all the plays that sunk the French ship.Van Basten started the game with a 4-5-1 formation with Van Nistelrooy as his talisman and the trio of Sneijder to the left, Van der Vaart in the middle and Kuyt to the right.Everyone expected Holland to hold back after finishing the first-half ended in a 1-0 lead. However, Van Basten opted to keep the pressure on the French and pulled out Kuyt and Engelaar and replaced them with Robben and Van Persie.By doing so, Van Basten shifted his tactic from using a playmaker- Van der Vaart- to operating with two wingers using a 4-3-3 formation.The tactical change allowed the Dutch to use the speed of Van Persie and Robben to startle the French defense while Sneijder and Van der Vaart were used as central midfielders to orchestrate the play while keeping things safe in midfield.This shift in tactics kept France under pressure and got the best of the relatively slower French defense and resulted in the wide-margin victory.
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