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Dead balls kill Holland |
Holland played some superb football in the World Cup but finally it was their inability to score from dead-ball situations that saw them bow out of the competition to Brazil.
The Dutch pass masters scored 12 goals in six matches from open play -- but gained nothing from free-kicks, corners or penalties.
And, of course, they were undone when Phillip Cocu and Ronald de Boer gave Brazil goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel the chance to pull off two saves in the penalty shoot-out.
"They didn't hit them hard enough but Taffarel made two good saves," was Brazil captain Dunga's blunt assesment.
Still, the Dutch, in disarray two years ago at the European Championships in England, can be pleased with their performance in France 98.
Such has been the Dutch capacity for self-destruction in recent years that opposition teams have been content to let the Orangemen beat themselves.
In the build-up for USA 94, Holland's most influential player Ruud Gullitt, torpedoed team morale when he walked out of the squad following a bitter row over tactics with then coach Dick Advocaat.
Holland's unconvincing Euro 96 campaign, which featured a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of England, was undermined by accusations that coach Guus Hiddink favoured white players over those from the Dutch West Indies or Surinam.
Temperamental midfielder Edgar Davids was sent home for publicly saying as much, but he made his peace with Hiddink before France 98
And the player nicknamed the 'pitbull' proved to be a midfield powerhouse for the Dutch.
That unified stance was exposed after the second round win over Yugoslavia when goalkeeper Edwin der Sar threw a punch at Winston Bogarde, who was keeping him out of the celebration huddle of players.
But winger Marc Overmars, ruled out of last night's semi-final with a hamstring injury, said: "One of the best things to come out of this tournament was to see the spirit and communication between the players."
Overmars said of the semi-final defeat to Brazil: "It was a such a close thing. We were so close to the final and I think we had more chances than they did. It could have gone either way."
Holland, in fact, enjoyed a full six minutes more time in possession in the attacking zone than Brazil did last night. But although they shot as many times as Brazil -- 18 -- only six shots, compared to Brazil's 10, were on target.
And probably the biggest miss was when Patrick Kluivert blasted over from eight metres from a Pierre Van Hooijdonk cross.
It denied Holland a third World Cup final after their 1974 and 1978 appearances in which they lost to the host countries on both occasions.
