Chp 76. Holland Down

Mayday. Mayday. Holland down. Holland down. Holland down.

One of the most exciting matches I’ve ever seen. Ended up in utter disappointment for me but at the same time felt gratified in a strange way for having to witness such a landmark match LIVE at 3 in the morning while there seem to be no life at all from my entire apartment.

Holland has just conceded to Portugal with a marginal 1-0 scoreline. It was the first time during this WC that I actually forced myself to sleep for 2 hours in the evening so that I will be wide awake during the match. It was also the first time since the World Cup kicked off that I switched off my mobile phone during the entire game because I just wanted to concentrate and give my entire thoughts to the match and not text messaging friends all over India discussing about the match.

With the exit of the Netherlands, so ends my campaign too. I am now a pilot without a plane, a Caesar without an army, a George without a jungle, a football fan without a team. Holland still retains the “Best team to have never won the World Cup” title. But mark my words, this particular team is a very young team and they will definitely be back with a bang at World Cup South Africa.

Yellow cards flew everywhere, 16 to be exact. But before that correspondent from the TOI once against blast the referee for "reducing the game to an utter farce", I’d like to show my solidarity with the ref Ivanov that even though it was not a very well umpired match, most of the players do deserve those cards and that there was nothing he could do about those incidents. No I will not blame him for showing 4 red cards. All four players who got their second yellow card bought it upon themselves. Stupid, yes, but nevertheless deserving. There was absolutely no need for Deco to delay the game by holding it, unnecessary of Van Bronckhorst to trip Valente when there were 2 other Dutch defenders behind him while Valente was the only Portuguese around, Costinha’s intentional handball was completely unnecessary and about Boulahrouz’ second yellow, he should have known better not to swing his elbow like that when an opponent is immediately behind him because that is when experienced players especially veterans like Figo would use as an opportunity to get knocked down, and with the recent DeRossi-McBride incident still fresh in the officials’ minds, I wasn’t surprised at all to see the Russian referee Ivanov hand him his second yellow.

Although I felt some of the cautions given out by Ivanov could have been avoided, I felt there were other incidents that really deserved to get penalized but didn't, like Figo's head butt which is a definite direct red card, the flying kunfu kick on Robben's chest inside the Portuguese penalty area, the harsh challenge by Costinha on Ooijer which deserved to be Costinha's second yellow (anyway he got his second yellow later) or the incident where the entire Portuguese bench came rushing out pushing and slapping a dutch player (was it Van Bronckhorst?) around as if he's a rag doll! Comon! The Dutch-Portuguese War need not be revisited again.

Holland with 62% possession, twice as many passes made than Portugal did, twice as many shots taken, just fail to find the back of the net. Cocu’s shot which hit the bar seem to pass on a message that it was just not Holland’s day (I already got a slight feeling that it was not Holland’s day when Harsha announced at the beginning of the broadcast that the match was between Holland and the Netherlands! )

Every molecule, follicle and ventricle within me sat up during the entire game. So many times Holland came close to scoring, so many times the players were on the verge of tearing each other’s throat and so many times the referee had to reach in his pocket to swipe out yet another yellow card. Holland got 7 yellows out of which 4 resulted in 2 reds, and Portugal got 9 freaking yellow cards! The commentator really did find the right words when he said “If Portugal wins, it will be just a pyrrhic victory for Scolari”. Now that Portugal are through to the Quarters, they will be without Deco and Costinha, and C.Ronaldo looks doubtful too from that injury. Even if Holland had equalized and scored again, they will also be without key players in the next round including players who will have to play safe so that they wont miss the next game after that (although they aren’t in a soup as hot as Portugal’s).

My final word is, no matter which team scored more or played better last night, there is just one clear cut winner, and that is England. Lucky bastards.

My 2 pence on a couple of incidents:

About C.Ronaldo’s injury:

Sad but I won’t miss him at all. Because for a defender, there’s no bigger insult than to be beaten by an opponent using fancy moves. Hence defenders are more likely to take out such a person before he can execute such a move. Even other top notch players like the original Ronaldo, Ronaldhino, Zizou etc display fancy moves while attacking, but no one does it as flamboyant as the thick headed C.Ronaldo. He has been criticized many times even by his own teammates that he is a “glory chaser” and a “one man show” incapable of being a team player. To me, I feel the only real contribution he gives to his team (be it Portugal or ManUtd) is being awarded free-kicks for the fouls he receives. A crucial role I agree, but such a person is definitely prone to injury and I’m surprised he hasn’t been taken out earlier. If C.Ronaldo recovers and continues playing like this, all he’s doing is committing professional suicide.

About Figo’s head butt:

Figo Figo Figo. Why why why. You knew so damn well that more than a million eyes were on you, what made you ever head butt Van Bommel? Such a stupid stupid move on your part dear Figo. Ofcourse you were angry and ofcourse your opponents were provoking you and ofcourse Van Bommel’s fall after the contact was a bit overdramatic. But you should have known better that that is what most professionals do. Thrash talk all you want, but the moment you get physical, it’s a completely different ball game. Now with Deco, Costinha and probably C.Ronaldo sidelined for the next game, do you think Portugal can ever beat England if you are disciplined by the FIFA Board for that action? Gawd I hate England, but now I’m starting to hate you more for giving England the window to get through to the Semis!!! Why did you have to physically display your anger on the field? Remember the heated England and Turkey EURO 2004 qualifier match? Ofcourse there was no love lost between the two teams on the field, but they came to a fist fight only in the tunnels far away from the prying eyes of the video cameras.

About Van Nistelrooy not playing:

Feyenoord’s Kuyt displayed a fine piece of playing, but he just couldn’t save the Dutch ship from sinking. With 62% possession and 20 shots taken, it was obvious that Holland’s main problem was with the finishing. At such times, one needs poachers. And who else better to fill that spot than one of the greatest poachers himself, Van Nistelrooy. The score line could have different figures if Nistelrooy was there instead of Kuyt. But ofcourse, the past is past and there’s no point saying one particular strategy would have worked out better, just because another strategy didn’t. Van Basten gambled with the young Kuyt instead of the out-of-form Nistelrooy but unfortunately he couldn’t hit the jackpot.

Gomenasai, Holland, I bid thee sayonara. You tried your best but luck just wasn’t on your side. Cheer up all ye Vans. This Van here is not ashamed of you. Disappointed a bit, but is still proud to know that the Vans can still go the distance. You have done the VAN family proud, brethrens. Kudos.

And with that ends my plan to celebrate Holland’s July 9th victory with a bottle of champagne. I’ve already saved 600 bucks meant for the bottle which I will now spend on something else, like purchase a new Tommy boxer or buy Harsha’s latest book “How to tell the difference between Holland and the Netherlands”.