Ruthless Russians Drub Rusty Dutch
Goals from Torbinski and Arshevin powered Russia to a shock 3-1 victory over the Netherlands. Hiddink's men looked very strong right from the start as the Dutch paid the price for a sloppy defence.
The match started with an upbeat tempo, with Russia seizing control of possession straight away.
There was a freekick as early as the 5th minute, which was beautifully taken by Zhirkov, forcing a great save from Van Der Sar, which set the tone for the match as Russia took the Netherlands to the sword. Another chance was created in the 7th minute, when Pavlyuchenko received a good cross from the right side into the penalty box. He was unmarked, and should have scored, but he put his header above the post, with the goal right in front of him.
The Dutch were simply not in this game, the passing skills which helped them tear apart Italy and France were missing. Nistelrooy took a corner in the 25th minute, which was headed by a Dutch player, then a Russian player, and then went straight to Engelaar, who whacked the shot wide of the post. The Dutch were never given space to make combinations, and to put their plans in place. The Dutch came even closer to scoring in the 28th minute, when Van Der Vaart whipped in a freekick, which was just inches away first from De Jong's head, and then Van
Nistelrooy's foot.At the other end, Russia began to turn on the heat. In the 30th minute, Arshevin just ran into the box, turned away from a defender, and then tried to curl in a shot, which forced Van Der Sar to tip the ball outside for a corner. In the 31st minute, Kolodin fired a marvelous shot from far, which was again blocked by Van Der Sar.
Just before halftime, an error by Kolodin almost gifted Netherlands a goal, but a Van Der Vaart shot was well blocked by the calm Russian goalkeeper.
Van Basten was very unimpressed with his side's display and replaced Kuyt with Arsenal's Van Persie. The substitution almost got them a goal when the Arsenal striker volleyed his shot just wide of the post.
In the 48th minute, a Van Der Vaart freekick was not converted by De Jong, who missed the ball completely. Russia came close to scoring in the 54th minute, when Ashravin fired his freekick just past the post. A minute later, Russia went up 1-0, courtesy of a Pavlyuchenko goal. Semak
ran in from the left side and made an excellent cross in, which was pounced onto by Pavlyuchenko and shot right into the goal.The Dutch were totally out of sorts. Van Der Vaart kept setting up chances, and Sneijder was the only one who looked most likely to score, but his shots failed to trouble the Russian goalkeeper Akinfeyev. Russia were looking even more dangerous than before, threatening to take the game away from the Netherlands, but neither Pavlyuchenko nor Arshevin could convert their chances. Van Der Sar produced his best goalkeeping to deny the Russians any more goals.
The Netherlands defence looked bleak, with plenty of gaps in the left side. They finally levelled the game five minutes from time when a brilliant swinging freekick from Sneijder was headed into the goal by Nistelrooy.
Heading into extra time, the Dutch looked weak. The Russians were physically more fit, and this worked to their advantage as they looked ferocious in extra time. The Russian strikers kept troubling Van Der Sar, as a tired Dutch side were being outplayed. The Russians were rewarded for their constant efforts in the 111th minute, when Arshevin produced some great work on the left side and then crossed the ball, with Torbinski pouncing on it to give Russia the lead. Russia finished the Dutch hopes of a semifinal berth in the 116th minute, via an Arshevin goal. There was a throw-in from the right side, which was taken by Arshevin. He just ran into the penalty box from the right side, and fired it through Van Der Sar's legs to give the Russians a huge win.
A weak defence was all that separated the Dutch and the Russians, and the Dutch will now go home, with their heads low, as they know, they actually had topped the Group of Death before reaching the quarters. Arshevin produced a Man of the Match display, and he would love to take his men to the next level: The Final. Potential opponents for Russia in the Semis would be either Spain or Italy.
Today's fixture: Italy vs Spain
Here are the highlights!!!
Pavlyuchenko, 55th minute, 0-1
Nistelrooy, 85th minute, 1-1
Torbinski, 111th minute, 1-2
Arshevin, 116th minute, 1-3 + Match Highlights
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