WORLD CUP UPDATE Only a report on the first game. As most will be from now on. I have too much work for 2 games a night. Sad but so far at least I havent missed one. I will give the link to a site for good match reports at the end for those interested. The others I follow are perhaps too technical for most. Netherlands VS Mexico then. Let me begin by saying the Dutch did not deserve the win at all. During the whole first half there was only one feeble header from the Dutch and the brilliant Ochoa (goal keeper) of Mexico was not tested at all. He is out of contract so he is a free agent and I wonder which club gets his signature. I am sure he is going to make sure of a hefty sign on fee of a few million Euro and birds are tweeting that Liverpool. Arsenal and Chelsea are lining up and that is only in England. Back to the game. While the Dutch were nowhere near the pace in the first half the Mexicans were pushing hard and could have been 2 or 4 nil up at half time.They must be kicking themselves for missing some great chances. 0-0 at half time. The 2nd half started with a bang as dos Santos buried the ball in the bottom right corner. That woke the Dutch up. Up to that point van Persie was pretty useless, Robben playing all by himself and Schneider as lost as a fart in a perfume factory. (Excuse the crude description - believe me it is apt). I was impressed by the work rate of Kuyt. The Dutch had a number of chances in the 2nd half before the Mexico coach Miguel Herrera made the mistake of his life in the 82nd minute. He told the team to go into defensive mode to protect that 1-0 lead. The Dutch poured it on and Schneider who had done nothing all game buried the ball after a poor clearance and he hit it so well and hard that nobody had a chance to move as it hit the back of the net. In the second half alone Robben had faked three fouls in the Mexico penalty area (at least 2 in the 1st half) and as far as I am concerned he should have had 2 yellow cards and therefore an automatic red midway in the 2nd half. As it happened the referee did not do his job and gave an iffy penalty when Robben fell down the 4th time during the 2nd half. No mistake - the referee was had for a sucker. So Netherlands score that penalty in extra time and go through. 2-1. However before Dutch fans start to rejoice. This was the worst Dutch performance for some years. The defence is a shambles and with de Jongh injured and van Persie unable to cope with the heat there is no way this Dutch team can win this w/cup. They were very fortunate to scrape through this one with a little help from their friend with the whistle. Arjan Robben was not the only Dutch player that deserved to be yellow carded. I really feel sorry for Mexico - sure they did not take their chances - BUT that fox Robben played the referee for a fool and won. Justus W Potgieter Raynard Potgieter bbc/sport/football/world-cup/2014
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 19:07:30 +0000
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