Chapter 197: Dutch Tulips Withered

The German chariot failed to crush Belgium, but was completely destroyed by Belgium with a 4:2. The Dutch team, which performed the best in the group stage of this European Cup, had the final result in the match against Russia. The most beautiful tulip that was supposed to bloom withered in front of the ferocious polar bear.

3:1!

The last laugh is not the Netherlands, the representative of Chinese football, but Russia, which has experienced a long trough and has stood up again.

The Russian team should be congratulated. They played a beautiful game. This victory can even be said to be a mythical drama full of enthusiasm.

In the European Cup four years ago, the Greek team also staged a myth, but they relied on defensive counterattacks and sneak attacks on their opponents, while the Russian team defeated the Netherlands today. Russia completely dragged down the Dutch team, which is unbelievable.

Especially when Ruud van Nistelrooy equalized the score near the end of regular time, it stands to reason that the Dutch team should have boosted their morale, but it is a pity that they were completely led by the nose in the 30 minutes of extra time , The back line is full of loopholes, and in the end it can only end with hatred.

The Dutch fans are depressed. In this game, the performance of the Dutch team formed a strong contrast with the group stage. When it was time to work hard, they could not see motivation and hope.

Especially during the group stage, the impregnable back line was beaten by the opponent's offensive again and again. If the Russians hadn't wasted too many opportunities, I don't know what the result of this game would be.

Ruud van Nistelrooy was depressed, he scored a goal to revive the dead before the end, but this goal could not save the Dutch team, Sneijder was depressed, he was the most aggressive and the best performer in the Dutch team One of the team members, but he faced the siege of the opponent many times, powerless and helpless, Van der Sar was depressed, he shouted to his teammates why? why? He couldn't figure out why the team's defense was so amateurish.

Why? Why?

If there are many problems in the defense of the Dutch team, why did they have such a perfect performance during the group stage?

Hiddink is indeed amazing, but does he really have the ability to turn gold into gold?

Van Basten's use of troops will definitely be questioned. The early substitution made Robben no chance to play, especially after he replaced the right back? Maybe these are not the most important.

It was the Russians who performed so well. Arshavin is a seedling of a superstar, but Russia's victory is by no means relying on one or two players.

They have a good combination of body and technology, and they put huge pressure on the Dutch team from the first minute. They also have obvious advantages in physical fitness. Although they squandered opportunities time and time again, they have endless energy. The offense is like the tide. Therefore, the Dutch defense line was not caused by its own mistakes, but was completely destroyed and broken by the opponent.

The Dutch team in the Van Basten era came to an end on June 21, 2008. After taking the top spot in the group with a devastating momentum, Van Basten's New Netherlands team was placed with unprecedented high expectations. Cruyff Gullit and others deliberately forgot the true strength of this team. The Dutch finally let the victory go to their heads. Sten did not hesitate to fight, in fact, it was tantamount to falling into Hiddink's trap.

Why was Russia beaten 4:1 by Spain?

It was not because of Spain's counterattack, but because of Calagones' targeted control of the rhythm, the Russians could only waste their energy, just like why the Netherlands can beat Italy 3:0 and France 4:1. Not because of how good the Netherlands' offensive power is, but more because of the tactical opponent, because Van Basten has learned to be reserved, and of course it is also because Donadoni and Domenech are really inferior to Van Basten.

Since winning the Delaunay Cup in 1988, the Dutch team has always performed well in the European Cup, but they have always lost miserably in penalty shootouts.

In 1992, he went all the way to the semi-finals, but lost to Denmark in the penalty shootout. In the 1996 European Cup in England, he also lost to France in the penalty shootout. Lost to Italy in the decisive battle, until the quarter-finals of the European Cup in Portugal in 2004, the Dutch finally defeated Sweden in the penalty shootout, but "breaking the curse of penalty kicks" is not a good thing.

When the Russians were still attacking in overtime, the Dutch started to look forward to penalty kicks, because they had broken the spell, because they had Edwin van der Sar, but the Russian team did not give the Dutch a chance to kick a penalty. .

Before the game, the Dutch didn't seem to take Russia seriously at all, and they seemed very at ease about the team's prospects. This made many people ignore Hiddink's understanding and cognition of Dutch football, even far better than Van Ba Sten, the magical coach whose coaching performance is comparable to that of Cruyff, after completely pinching the Netherlands seven inches, beat him hard.

After the game, Van Basten used "insufficient physical fitness in overtime" as an excuse, but compared to physical strength, the Netherlands, which has a collective rest for the main players in the final round, is far better than Russia.

In the pk between the old and new generations of Dutch coaches, Van Basten ended in a complete defeat. In front of the old and spicy Hiddink, Van Basten's tactics and on-the-spot command had obvious flaws. Hiddink did understand Dutch tactics, but Van Basten Basten had enough opportunities to make adjustments through substitutions, but the three substitutions of the Ballet Prince not only failed to achieve any effect, but directly abolished the Netherlands.

The Netherlands' first substitution came on 54 minutes when Heitinga came on for Bolarouz. Due to the recent trips between the hospital and the station, Boulahrouz's training is not normal. In order to prevent his physical decline, Van Basten replaced it with Heitinga.

Heitinga is an all-rounder on the defensive line and can play all defensive roles, but because he is "too versatile", Heitinga's sense of position is too vague.

It was after Heitinga came on the field that the Russians seized the first opportunity. Arshavin made a direct pass to Shermark on the left. He was supposed to step forward to intercept Heitinga, but chose to defend inward. As a result, Shermark Easy assists Pavlyuchenko opened the scoring, this time from Heitinga played only two minutes.

Russia then spotted Heitinga's Achilles' heel. Arshavin and Zhirkov, who was born as a left midfielder, collectively put pressure on him. In the 106th minute of overtime, Zhirkov didn't make a realistic fake move and just swayed away. Heitinga's center of gravity, facing Zhirkov who broke into the penalty area, Heitinga used his hands and feet to bring him down. If the referee Michel was not too kind, Heitinga would not be able to escape the fate of a red card and a penalty kick.

Perhaps frightened by the first goal, Heitinga rarely retreated to the penalty area to help defend. He watched Arshavin blow up the stake-like Oyer.

After that, Russia's second goal directly extinguished the hearts of the Dutch players. When Arshavin played Oyer on the left side of the penalty area, Heitinga was still "firmly" sticking to the right side.

The third conceded goal is also closely related to Heitinga. His slow replacement gave Arshavin an easy kick. The ball hit Heitinga's leg and then refracted into the net. It can be said that he believed only one person, Van Ba Sten lost everything.

The second substitution mistake was Van Persie, Robben was injured, which greatly weakened the Dutch team's wing attack ability. At this time, Basten's most sensible choice should be to give up the wing and focus on the center. Huntelaar and Heather Link could help Ruud van Nistelrooy control the high ball landing, but Van Basten put his trust in the flashy wingers.

A Sneijder who shoots all over the court is enough, but after the intermission, another high-scoring van Persie appeared on the stage. None of Arsenal's core five shots hit the goal range. He and Sneij The existence of Ruud Ruud van Nistelrooy has become an expensive decoration, the role of the king of the penalty area, in addition to fighting for the header, it is left to be a wall for the long-range shooters.

In the 62nd minute, Van Basten replaced Engelal with Affilae. The last move of the Ballet Prince was still a bad move. The young Affilae obviously couldn't adapt to the pressure of the competition. The PSV winger failed to Create any chance.

Affilai's appearance directly forced van der Vaart to play an extremely uncomfortable midfielder. The talents of Hamburg's core in midfield organization and long-range shooting were completely wasted.

The three substitutions did not have any effect. Instead, Ruud van Nistelrooy and van der Vaart were abolished, the two core offensive players. Van Basten can be regarded as digging his own grave.

The head coach failed to fight, and the same comparison between the players, Arshavin also overwhelmed Sneijder, the core of the Dutch team. In this game, Sneijder has to bear a lot of responsibility for the final defeat of the Dutch team.

Probably because of the smooth group stage, Sneijder was a little smug, and Van Basten's encouragement made him regard himself as the absolute leader of the Dutch team.

In fact, the Dutch football circle has long had a conclusion on Sneijder. He is not an excellent organizer. He needs to improve the efficiency of passing, receiving and shooting. Sometimes he is too easy to get carried away.

Sneijder was obviously dazzled in this game. With center Van Nistelrooy having an overwhelming advantage, Sneijder's first choice after getting the ball is always a long shot.

Sneijder's indiscriminate shooting directly led to Van Nistelrooy's downturn. The king of the restricted area only had three shots in 120 minutes. Could be the savior of the Netherlands.

Sneijder was hailed by the media as the dj of the Netherlands. When the commander fell into a state of frenzy, the attack system of the Tulip Legion would inevitably collapse.

Too many long-range shots reflected Sneijder's immature mentality. Facing the backward situation, the Dutch No. 10 was always anxious, and the whole team was also driven by him.

Sneijder's assist to Ruud van Nistelrooy's goal can only be regarded as an exception. In the positional attack, the overly impatient Netherlands hardly created any chances.

"Playing as a team means the players have to communicate on the pitch, constantly communicate."

Before the start of the game, Sneijder said it was good, but when he was really in a desperate situation, the Dutch No. 10 had already left the team spirit behind.

However, as No. 10, Arshavin's team spirit is higher than that of Sneijder. Russia's second goal is the best example.

In the 99th minute, Arshavin passed two people on the right and then crossed the middle. Tolbinski, who singled out the goalkeeper, was not strong enough to push with his left foot. Van der Sar fell to the ground and hugged the ball.

Arshavin did not lose confidence in his teammates. Thirteen minutes later, Russia's No. 10 penalty area swayed past Oyer on the left side and picked a pass to the back post. Tolbinski, who had lost his chance to kill, outflanked and scored in time.

Rather than saying that Arshavin's personal ability determines the game, it is better to say that his team spirit helped Russia reach the semi-finals.

Basten lost, and his era of Dutch football came to an end. Correspondingly, his old predecessor Guus Hiddink won a comprehensive victory.

Before the game, Hiddink once publicly stated that facing his home country team, he would be happy to be a "traitor". When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, Hiddink successfully became a "traitor".

However, after Arshavin scored the last goal for the Russian team, Hiddink did not celebrate with the players, but calmly clenched his fists and returned to the coach's bench. In the post-match press conference, Hiddink was even more More praise to his team members.

"I am proud of my players. In my coaching career, I have never experienced anything like today. The Dutch team is a very strong team tactically, technically and physically. But today, in this We beat them on all three fronts."

After the game entered overtime, the Russian team showed a strong desire to win, and the Dutch team was obviously weaker than the Russian team in terms of momentum. In this regard, Hiddink also praised the players' performance: "They did not Instead of looking at the clock, we were focused on attacking, so in the end we scored the winner, even though we should have decided the game much earlier."

Russia have been a fantastic team since the start of the Euro qualifiers, and they have been even better going into the finals, but in Guus Hiddink's view, they can do even better: "My players are They're young, but they're very perceptive, they're both very good athletes, and I think they both have room for improvement."

For being called a "traitor", Hiddink also expressed his opinion: "I am not arrogant, but today's game, we undoubtedly played better than the Dutch team, in my opinion, the 'traitor' It's a very bad word, it's better not to use it on me, I don't want to hear it."

After leading the Russian team to the semi-finals of this European Championship, Hiddink's magical coaching career was rewritten again. After leading the South Korean team to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2002, he helped the Australian national team achieve a historic breakthrough four years later After entering the top 16, now at the current European Championships, the Dutchman has come back to life and led the Russians to the best result since the national team participated in the World Series.

Before the start of the European Championship, Russia was not favored by people. The reason is very simple. In European football, where there are so many strong players, Russia, which has rarely achieved good results in any international competition, will definitely not leave in this European Cup. It was too far away, but under Hiddink's careful guidance, the performance of the loose Russian team was very different. They played calmly and attacked resolutely, and gradually improved as the game unfolded.

Although the first game suffered a 4:1 heavy loss to Spain, the favorite to win the championship, Russia quickly came out of the shadow of the big defeat. Lianke Greece and Sweden reached the quarterfinals. There is absolutely no power to parry.

No one knows the Oranje better than Guus Hiddink, who was once the coach of the Dutch team. Facing the favorites to win the championship, Hiddink's tactical arrangement was unexpected, and he scored against the Dutch team, which has always been known for its offense. The Russians were the real winners on the field, threatening the Netherlands from start to finish, and the Netherlands had to play defensively to deal with it.

1:1, the game was dragged to overtime, and a goal instantly decided the fate of the winner. Hiddink's substitution had a miraculous effect. In the 81st minute, Tolbinski, who came off the bench, broke the deadlock. Arshavin, who Hiddink called the smartest player he has encountered since coaching, set the score at 3:1, completely smashing the Dutchman's dream of winning the championship.

As the coach of the Russian national team, from a professional perspective, Hiddink is obviously looking forward to leading the Russian team to go further in this European Championship. Before the game, he once declared that if he could help the Russian team beat the Dutch team, he would not mind being The "traitor" in the eyes of hometown fans.

As the former coach of the Dutch national team, Hiddink knows better than anyone that the prestigious Dutch team is eager to win the European Championship trophy, but now he has become a "traitor" who ruined this dream. Hiddink's heart Complicated emotions are difficult to describe in any language.

The battle between the new and old Dutch coaches, the final proposition is that ginger is still hot!

Basten may be very confused. His team was invincible in the group stage, but after the knockout round, it suddenly seemed to change a team.

"The result of the game was very disappointing. We should have done better, but unfortunately, the final result deviated greatly from our expectations. I don't know what happened to all of this, and I don't want to know. It belongs to me. The job is over, there will be a new manager to lead the Netherlands forward, I want to thank my players, they are not losers, it may not end so well, but this is life and football is like this , This is also the charm of football!"

Russia has advanced, and their opponents in the semi-finals will be between Italy and Spain. Perhaps Hiddink is in a very conflicted mood now. He does not want to face Spain, because Spain once defeated his team 4:1 in the group stage , he wanted to meet Spain again, because he wanted to avenge the 4:1 defeat in the group stage.

Italy and Spain, the two extremes of the two football styles, the battle for the last place in the semi-finals of the European Cup in 2008 is about to start!