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Everyone expected massacres in the “Group of Death” B, but it turned out that in the end it was suicide that occurred instead of massacre. The Netherlands self destructed with Portugal packing them 2 – 1 on the earliest available plane to Amsterdam, ending the most miserable Dutch campaign in post-Dutch revival history. The Germans on the other end ended Danish hope by shutting them out 2 – 1 as well, ending up tops unbeaten in Group B with 9 points. Portugal got 6 points and Denmark 3, and the much-fancied Netherlands eating humble pie with no points at all. Germany towers over everything (uber alles!) in the group and probably in the tournament as well, and might be nigh unstoppable from going all the way. Denmark tried hard to prove a point but the German Mannshaft rode over them mercilessly while the Portuguese eclipsed the clueless Dutch though a resurgent Ronaldo, coming in from behind. The Dutch though scored first, then lost it completely becoming the laughing stock of the Football World.
Portugal vs the Netherlands (2 – 1)
The Netherlands and Portugal met again after the controversial quarterfinal of the 2006 World Cup. However, this was no Battle of Nuermberg, as the Portuguese outplayed the Dutch despite things looking very different at the beginning. The Netherlands, despite losing both their previous games could still make it if they beat Portugal 2+, provided Germany would defeat Denmark. But all mathematical prediction proved useless. It is ironical that in the beginning the Dutch were in total control of the game, displaying the kind of slick Football that was expected of them, and in the 11th minute Van Der Vaart put the Dutch ahead through a scintillating goal when he beautifully curled in a Robben pass through a long range shot. It almost seemed that incredibly the Dutch would go through. But then Christiano Ronaldo happened and the Dutch choked on themselves. Shutting up all his detractors, he scored in the 28th minute through a steady and simple goal as the Dutch defense unraveled. The Dutch went haywire after that and never even once seemed to put up a fight. Their attack was blunt, the midfield in tatters and the defense almost non-existent, though they had a whopping 58% of possession, most of them ending in mis-passes. On the other side, Ronaldo was a man possessed and led wave after wave of attack on the Dutch front and you could almost sense a goal coming, till it happened in the 74th minute, culminating in a classic Ronaldo do-it-alone goal. There were some weak attempts from the Dutch to fight back, but it was all over.
Germany vs Denmark (2 – 1)
On the other side, the Danes out up quite a fight against the Germans, who finally seemed to show a bit like being troubled, though they shut out and suffocated the Danes in towards the end. Germany went ahead in the 19th minute itself when Lukas Podolski standing unmarked in the box fired in a Muller – Gomez pass that was 19 minutes in coming. The Danes seemed to wake up then and five minutes later they were level when Niklas Bendtner who was leading the Danish charge headed in a Christian Eriksen corner towards Krohn-Dehli who nodded it in past Neuer. The Germans closed ranks after that and took over the driving seat, denying the Danes as much as a glance of their goal. The Germans were unlucky that they could not get more goals. All efforts of the Danes were directed towards keeping the ball out of their net battling Mesut Ozil’s passes. Finally in the 80th minute, Lars Bender ran inside the box, hooked on an Ozil pass and fired it inside the net, breaking the hearts of all those Danish fans, vastly outnumbered by Germans.
In a replay of the Eurozone crisis on the football field, Greece will face Germany on 22nd June in Gdansk. But this time the Germans will not give any quarter and Greece cannot expect any kind of a bailout from them. Portugal will meet the Czech Republic in the first quarterfinal at Warsaw on 21st June. The Czechs will have trouble on their hands if Ronaldo continues his form. But this group will be remembered for the Dutch Debacle. They came in as hot favorites, the World Cup runner ups, European powerhouses who were the very first team to qualify for the Euro without losing a single match. They went back after the first round without winning a single match, not even a draw. What went wrong? It all seemed to go right at the beginning of their last game where they came with some major changes. But Bert Van Marvjik’s team continued to be the underachievers, the first time they crash out of a major tournament without a point since 1980. Beset with ego squabbles and other assorted cohesion problems, they played not as the Oranje team but as 11 different teams. And therein lies their failure. Such a sad state, given their potential of being jam packed with such talented players. And of course, the nonexistent defense is what did them in. As they do after every tournament, Dutch fans can hope this time (again) that they pull themselves together the next time.
You know there is something seriously wrong with them when the Dutch are unable to win even after Arjen Robben passes and assists in a goal.
