Netherlands-Italy: Oranje Crush

2008-09-10T06:59:55-04:00

2008-06-09T17:31:42-04:00

2008-09-10T06:38:35-04:00

2008-06-11T18:04:38-04:00

Xinzelar

No City 439336

Dear readers, The UEFA secretary gave a press conference today explaining the rule of offside. He stated the first goal of The Netherlands was valid and that the referee had made the correct decision. I am Dutch and I work for an Italian boss, and I completely understand the Italian protest. However unfortuantely for them the goal is valid according to the official rules of soccer. Kr, Alexander 1959069

2008-06-11T10:01:24-04:00

Cytral

No City 438719

I want to say something positive about Italy. last game they tried to play ball and not play their usual defending style game. respect for that. It takes 2 sides to produce a good match. 1953654

2008-06-11T09:57:14-04:00

grumpee

No City 438762

Klotenbag Like I said congratulations on the victory but this is 1 game. Yes the Dutch were better this game but don't get too carried away with overconfidence. You have to analyze why this happened. What happened in this game is that the Dutch played an excellant game from front to back, but at same the time Italy did not and are capable of better. Donadoni decided to play 3 out of form old men (Materazzi, Gatusso and to a lesser degree Ambrosini) who all looked awful, when he had younger better players on the bench (DeRossi, Aquilani, Perotta & Grosso). The teams at Euro are too close in quality that a mistake by the coach can have a profound effect on the game. So we had these old Italians chasing the young Dutch all over the field. Also, Donadoni's 4-3-3- was totally inappropriate when 2 out of 3 midfielders were way too slow allowing the Dutch to smother Pirlo and control the midfield. Donadoni was a coach who did not adjust to the situation. Without Cannavaro the defense was weaker so Donadoni should have beefed up the midfield with a 4-4-2 (I am not using Cannavaro's injury as an excuse because the Dutch had injuries too) I am saying Donadoni failed to adjust to the situation. I can't believe that Donadoni will be that stupid again. If any of the three players I mentioned are in the lineup for the next game Donadoni should be fired before the game starts. I don't think you can go from winning your qualifying group in splendid fashion on a rain soaked field in a hostile Scotland to being totally inept without an explanation. I blame Donadoni here. So the Dutch should enjoy the victory but remain humble and focused as tougher challenges lie ahead. 1953615

2008-06-11T07:34:03-04:00

klotenbag

No City 439108

Oh how fortunate for you mister grumpee. Yes Italy has been more succesful in scocer history. However, I do not see how any of that could be something YOU did. The Italian TEAM played better in the PAST than the Dutch TEAM. 'You wil never win the war'. LOL? Who 'you' ? Do you see van Nistelrooy or van der Sar on this forum? And even IF, just IF you really think everyone from a country belongs to that certain country's team when it comes to soccer, than this is still not about the past. It is about now. And if The Netherlands beat 4-times world champion Italy, this can only mean that The Netherlands are better than a 4 - times world champion, right NOW. Soccer (like all sports) does not depend on the past. If you cannot see logic, please do not come here pretending you do. 1952416

2008-06-11T07:10:09-04:00

grumpee

No City 438762

OK the Dutch won the game and were impressive. OK cut down the Italians as everyone who is not Italian likes to do. The Dutch are acting like they won the World Cup (the only tournament that really matters). Fact of the matter is Dutch have never won the World Cup and never will. They had their chance with Cruyff and blew it. Italy has taken care of business 4 times in the World Cup. Congratulations to Holland for winning the batlle but you will never win the war. 1952462

2008-06-11T05:29:47-04:00

Cytral

No City 438719

maybe its time that the players stop faking injuries they get hit on the hip and go down like they are dying (and their ankle hurts ??) 1952423

2008-06-10T12:42:07-04:00

275

no_trolling_please

No City 128849

giuseppe, I am not a dutch fan and I am not bitter. I am fed up by italians who don't even know the rules and still debate a goal that by ALL accounts (refs organizations, rules, UEFA) was valid. grumpee, same to you. The goal was valid. Just because the rules do not favour YOUR team, does not change that fact. Next time read first complain afterwards. The refs call was correct in all accounts. If he hadn't given the goal, now that would have been lousy. He deserves praise for his right decision and a flawless game. 1946361

2008-06-10T11:31:26-04:00

HeinG

Rochester 438778

I'm Dutch and did not see the full match -- sniff -- but am of course delighted. What matters most to me is that it was a truly great game, back-and-forth, with real opportunities on both sides. And for a change, Oranje WON with beautiful soccer against a first-class opponent. The reason the Dutch are so ecstatically happy is not just the victory, but the quality of play and quality of opponent. Italy will go through. 1945508

2008-06-10T11:13:55-04:00

Adrien

No City 437119

Grant, even if it is too early to say that your prediction of a portugal holland final was right, you still deserve compliments for seeing how well put together this holland squad is. As for the rest, final etc.. I have to tell you that even though I did not rate Holland very high, I had them beat Italy (granted it is my only correct prediction so far :) ). 1945282

2008-06-10T10:46:36-04:00

Lozo

Boulder 84215

About the almost offsides, let's consider one thing. What if the player had fallen down on or just inside the goal line, would he have counted as being in the play? That is the spirit of the rule. Because he falls down and rolls out of bounds should not be a disadvantage to the attacking team. It's not something that comes up a lot, but it is fairly simple and fair. 1944814

Thank god for Holland. I’m no Dutch homer, but it’s impossible not to love a team that goes up 2-0 on the World Cup champion and, instead of packing it in, sends its diminutive left back (Giovanni van Bronckhorst) on a jailbreak run that ends with him scoring--on a header, of all things. Netherlands 3, Italy 0. Here are some of the entries from my notebook in this game: Wow. Unbelievable. Holy ----. Not once in eight games over the past 30 years had the Dutch beaten Italy. Never had Italy given up three goals in a European Championship game. And never will you see a finer pair of team-built counter-attack goals than the ones scored by Holland for their second and third goals. Talk about Showtime in the transition game. You can be certain there was celebrating in the house of former U.S. captain Claudio Reyna, a close friend of Van Bronckhorst from their days together at Glasgow Rangers. (One of Reyna’s sons is named Giovanni after his pal.) If you ever wanted a modern-day clinic in Dutch Total Football, you got one from the Oranje today, and more so from Van Bronckhorst than from any other single player. It was Gio who, with the score still 1-0 in the first half, cleared Andrea Pirlo’s corner kick off his own goal line, raced down the left side at breakneck speed, met a sweet pass from Rafael van der Vaart and sent a glorious ball over the top to Dirk Kuyt, whose delicate header bounced once before Wesley Sneijder hit a perfect one-time shot near-post to beat Gigi Buffon. And it was Gio who shot out of a cannon after Pirlo had been denied (again!) on a screaming free kick, Gio who kept running with the ball and found Kuyt, who kept pushing after Buffon’s initial save and hit Gio with the return cross for the first headed goal of Euro 2008. What more can you say? Is it too early for me to crow a little bit after catching static from some of you guys for picking Holland to go to the final? (O.K., yes, it’s too early. I hear you.) Three other thoughts: • Orlando Engelaar and Nigel De Jong were amazing. The Dutch attackers deserve a ton of credit, but midfielders Engelaar and De Jong shut down Pirlo--one of the top players from World Cup ’06--the entire game. Pirlo spun and spun and spun, and in the end did little more than spin his wheels. • Holland’s first goal was NOT a thing of beauty. Common sense says that Italian defender Christian Panucci should not have been considered active as he lay prostrate beyond the endline after being knocked down by his own keeper Buffon before Holland’s first goal. Panucci did not try to trick anyone by stepping off the field while upright. Simple story: the Dutch’s first goal (by Ruud van Nistelrooy) should not have counted, since (were it not for Panucci) RVN was offside by several yards. That shouldn’t take away from Holland’s victory, but it needs to be said. • Edwin van der Sar can still bring it. The save that Van der Sar made on Antonio Di Natale in minute 33 was a lot harder than it looked, since VDS was being screened by his own defender, Khalid (the Cannibal) Boulahrouz, who was nutmegged by the shot itself. Had Italy been able to take a 2-1 deficit into halftime (and spark some doubt in the Dutch) this might have been a different game. Through-balls: Maybe it was the end-to-end nature of the game, but I still feel better about Italy’s chances to survive the Group of Death than those of France or Romania ... It might be fashionable in hindsight to say that this Italy team is too old, but keep in mind, Van Bronckhorst is 33 and Van Nistelrooy is 31 ... Separated at Birth (courtesy SI.com soccer producer Jonah Freedman): Italy’s Roberto Donadoni and Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips ... I wouldn’t be surprised to see several changes in Italy’s lineup against Romania, including the insertion of Daniele De Rossi and Alessandro Del Piero. Antonio Cassano was dangerous in short-term duty on Monday as well. Can the Italians come back from this? I think they will. Post your own thoughts below...  1346 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615