WC Day 28: Final Focus: Give Netherlands Credit

Posted on 7/8/2010

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Day 28 - 3:00 p.m. EST

One of the positive surprises of this World Cup has been the transformation of the Netherlands. No longer a crowd pleasing loser that plays beautiful yet fruitless football, the new Dutch treat is the habit of winning. They enter the final on Sunday having won every World Cup match in this tournament, the mental breakthrough coming against Brazil in the quarterfinals.

Arjen Robben and Holland are shining under coach van Marwijk. (Getty)

They had a relatively easy time in Group E, which has to be considered one of the weaker quartets with a squabbling Cameroon and an aging Denmark to round out the speedy and skillful Japan that provided Holland with its biggest challenge.

In the Japan match on June 19, Netherlands faced a stubborn test as the Asian team chose to play a defensive formation, hoping to hit the Dutch on the counter.  Wesley Sneijder eventually cracked the safe at the 53rd minute when Japanese defender Tulio failed to clear a cross, allowing Robin van Persie to take advantage. The ball came to Sneijder and the Inter Milan man became the Dutch hero in a 1-0 victory.

This was a match that the Netherlands expected to win and the close score line made some wonder if Holland would pass muster in the knockout stage of the tournament.

It was in the quarterfinals against Brazil that a convincing answer arrived, but it didn’t start that way.

In the first 45 minutes Holland was nearly invisible. Brazil scored at the 10th minute, passed the ball around seemingly stationary Dutch players, and looked poised to hit the back of Holland keeper Martin Stekelenburg’s net a few more times if not for his acrobatics.

At the restart the outlook changed. Netherlands found renewed purpose and Brazil unexpectedly realized that they had failed to break the Dutch spirit with their dominating first half display.  Brazil is at its worst when it fails to intimidate the opponent.

Many have been at odds with what caused the inexplicable Brazil collapse in the second half at Port Elizabeth Stadium. Some have blamed it all on Felipe Melo’s mistakes. Others have said that Brazil relied too much on coach Dunga’s defensive tactics. Few have actually claimed that Holland itself engineered the Brazilian collapse by refusing to buckle.

Netherlands deserves credit for mighty Brazil’s collapse.

Coach Bert van Marwijk’s men were able to look past the Brazilian dazzle and put the one goal deficit at halftime in perspective.  Regardless of what was said in the dressing room, van Marwijk’s philosophy was revealed in what he told the press a day earlier.

“I know the Brazilian team played beautiful football...so did the Dutch (of the past) but there is no more space for 'total' or 'samba' football these days.” 

Wesley Sneijder is a five-goal hero for Netherlands at the 2010 World Cup. (Getty)

It’s that kind of pragmatism which saw Holland emerge out of the tunnel understanding their mission. ‘Total football’ was out and the grind was on. A suddenly resistant midfield combined with increased pressure and the usual Arjen Robben theatrics, resulted in a pair of goals from Sneijder at the 53rd and 68th minutes.  

At that point Holland was firmly ahead with the Brazilians stunned at their reversal of fortune. Felipe Melo’s 73rd minute red card, as if the villain’s blunder on the opening goal hadn’t been criminal enough, sealed Brazil’s fate. 

Van Marwijk acknowledged that his team was awestruck by the South Americans at the outset, but sense settled in at halftime.

“During the break I told them to play their usual game (in) the second half. Once we scored our first goal we played much better and proved that we've got a very strong squad.”

That squad prevailed again in the semifinals over Uruguay and now will be severely tested in the World Cup final against a country that van Marwijk admires.

"These days Spain is the team that plays the best football.”