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| 19th June - 17.00 - Group D Match | ||||
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| 2 - 3 | ||||
| Holland Team | Czech Republic Team | |||
Edwin Van der Sar |
Petr Cech Zdenek Grygera Tomas Ujfalusi Martin Jiranek Marek Jankulovski Tomas Galasek Karel Poborsky Tomas Rosicky Pavel Nedved Milan Baros Jan Koller |
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| Holland Subs | Czech Republic Subs | |||
| Sander Westerveld Ronald Waterreus Michael Reiziger Patrick Kluivert Rafael Van der Vaart Paul Bosvelt Frank de Boer Roy Makaay Marc Overmars Wesley Sneijder Pierre Van Hooijdonk Boudewijn Zenden |
Jaromir Blazek Antonin Kinsky Pavel Mares Vladimir Smicer Vratislav Lokvenc Stepan Vachousek Tomas Hubschman Marek Heinz Roman Tyce Jaroslav Plasil David Rozehnal |
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| Match Report |
| In a game that will go down as one of the best in memory, the Czech Republic came back from the dead to overpower a Dutch side who will curse their luck, and that fact that they were against such an outstanding side. Pavel Nedved and Tomas Rosiscky were untouchable in midfield, and the combination of Jan Koller and Milan Baros was awesome up front.
The tone was set after just seconds, when a lofted ball into the Dutch area was snatched at by Koller on the volley when he really had a chance to test van der Saar. Then Marek Jankulovski had a jinking run and shot saved well. Holland found themselves penned inside their own half for the first few minutes. However, they broke out and made the Czechs pay in devastating fashion. A free kick tossed into the box found Bouma completely unmarked at the far post. His downwards header flashed past a statue-like Cech into the net. Czech manager Bruckner may well point the finger at Poborsky,who was ball-watching instead of marking his man. Just short of twenty minutes in, Ruud van Nistelrooy was seemingly shoved over in the box. The referee thought not and played on. Koller lost possession and Davids threaded a through ball to Arjen Robben on the left flank whilst van Nistelrooy was still in an offside position. Robben crossed for the preditor to knock the ball into the net and double the lead. Contraversial, but all legal under the interpretation of FIFA's rulings. Now was the time for Holland to consolidate, but this wasn't allowed to happen. Cocu's loose pass was picked up by the pacey Baros, who ran at Stam and into the area. The big defender made a brilliant tackle, but Baros managed to divert the ball into the path of the onrushing Koller who made no mistake from close range. There were no more goals in the half, but not for a lack of efforts. Earlier, Clarence Seedorf had seen a free kick graze the post, and a devastating long range effort come back off the stanction. This time it was the turn of Edgar Davids, who beat Cech from outside the area, but unfortunately saw his effort come back off the inside of the post and out to safety. The second half saw no falling away in standard. Both keepers had to be on top form. van der Meyde and Poborsky were both denied in quick succession. The decisive moment came after the hour when Robben's precision cross found van Nistelrooy's head, but Cech blocked brilliantly from close range. This handed the Czechs the emphasis. Vladimir Smicer was set up brilliant by Heinz, but his left footed effort from 10 yards was brilliantly turned wide by the agile van der Saar. Reprieve didn't last much longer. 20 minutes from time Nedved advanced down the left. His cross was cushioned down by Koller and Baros volleyed home from the edge of the area with precision. The Dutch now found themselves in trouble. from a seemingly winnable position they now had a chance of defeat. They also looked menacing in attack, but this ended when the referee sent off defender Heitinga fdor a second bookable offence. van der Meyde was sacrificed for the defensive Reizeger and a draw seemed enough. The outstanding Nedved looked to win the game minutes from time with a swerving drive from fully 35 yards. Agonisingly, it crashed against the crossbar with the goalkeeper beaten. This may well have been the final act, but there was more to come. Heinze shot low from 25 yards, forcing van der Saar into a good save. Poborsky latched onto the rebound and unselfishly squared for Smicer to knock into an open goal from close range. Holland were devastated - the Czechs jubilant. There was even time for sub van der Vaart to fail to connect with a sublime cross to end their hopes of a draw in injury time. A phonominal ending to a cracking match in which both sides came out with a lot of credit. Holland looked like potential winners, and that does some justice to what the Czech Republic look like. They win the group with this result, and are the only team to have a100% record. Right now, they look an excellent bet. |
