Friday, 13 June 2008
Day seven of GroundReport’s exclusive on-the-ground coverage of Euro2008:
Holland have clinched top-seed in Group C with a comfortable victory over 2006 World Cup runners-up France on Friday.
Liverpool FC winger Dirk Kuyt opened the scoring account with a thunderous header off a corner kick in the tenth minute. The Dutch began the match in rapid style, connecting on half a dozen one-touch passes and controlling the majority of the possession early. The French developed a rhythm as the first half progressed, though, threatening Edwin Van Der Sar’s goal with a series of clever passes between Thierry Henry, Florent Malouda, and Frank Ribery down the left side.
The Dutch went up 2-0 in the 59th minute when super-substitute Arjen Robben found open space down the left wing and bore down the opposite goal on a three-on-two breakaway, squaring for Robin Van Persie, who volleyed past a helpless French keeper Gregory Coupet.
Les Bleus pulled one back in the 70th minute when their star striker and lead goal-scorer Thierry Henry found the back of the net after being fed a glorious through-ball by Willy Sagnol. The Dutch had other thoughts, however – just seconds after the ensuing kickoff, Arjen Robben, after a quick three-pass combination, found space to fire a blazing shot past Coupet from an impossible angle, finding the roof of the net and stunning the 31,500 in Bern.
Wesley Sneijder put the game to rest in second half injury time with a bit of individual magic, turning slyly around his opposite number and tucking his shot under the cross-bar snugly past Coupet again.
The Netherlands officially qualify for the quarterfinals of the tournament as a result of today’s fixtures, with six points and first place in the group secured, and Marco Van Baasten’s men have the luxury of resting some of their key players in their next match against Romania on Tuesday. The French will have all to play for against Italy – both teams have just one point from their previous two matches, and only one, perhaps neither, team will be able to advance to the knockout stages.