Winner: Netherlands
Score: Netherlands(2) vs Denmark(0)
46′ Simon Poulsen (Denmark) * own goal by denmark
84′ Dirk Kuyt (USA)
Recap
A lot of people were surprised with the pre-match decision of Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk to make Bayern Munich experienced star player Arjen Robben a substitute.
The early stages of the game saw both Netherlands and Denmark tight on offense and defense exchanging possessions back and forth. The first goal chance only came 20 minutes after from Wesley Sneijder and Thomas Enevoldsen who was way off the goal.
Netherlands had a slighter edge in the aggressive department especially Rafael van der Vaart who is proving to everyone why is the starting player instead of high profile Arjen Robben. Rafael had two scoring opportunities shooting slightly off target on the goal.
Denmark goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen almost made a costly mistake like the one committed by Englishman Green on a shot by Dutch Dirk Kuyt.
As half-time approached both teams are yet to score and the pressure is bigger for Netherlands who came into the game with a record of 19 straight wins. The half ended with both teams still looking for a goal.
Just a minute after the second half started, Netherlands scored courtesy of Denmark Simon Poulsen who was trying to head away a cross from Dutch Robin van Persie. People are going to blame Simon Poulsen for this but Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg is also to blame who should have met the cross in front of him and deflecting it simultaneously. Nontheless, Simon is going to take this one on his record.
The defensive formation of Denmark could not hold with the attacking Netherlands’ offense as shown by Van Persie who had a clear shot of the goal only to be beautifully saved by Sorensen.
Five minutes left into the game and because Netherlands’ only goal came from Denmark Simon undermine the win by Netherlands, the Dutchmen continued to be aggressive which was rewarded quickly when Dirk Kuyt easily kicked the ball into the goal since goalkeeper Maarten forwarded to deflect an attack and could not back right away.
Key Takeaway
Netherlands is known for their attacking style and they did just that during the game having a lot of clear shots to the goal. The score could have been bigger if it wasn’t for the save of Denmark’s goalkeeper. Denmark needs to look at their defense as it opens up a lot of clear shot to the opponent.
FIFA World Cup Shopping – Netherlands
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FIFA World Cup Shopping – Denmark
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