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Van Nistelrooy goal gives Dutch 1-1 draw
Striker Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a brilliantly-executed late goal to give the Netherlands a 1-1 draw with arch-rivals Germany in their opening Euro 2004 match.
Van Nistelrooy, who had endured a frustrating night, turned sharply to hook in a right-wing cross after 81 minutes, acrobatically steering the ball past goalkeeper Oliver Kahn to earn his side a point. Germany had deservedly taken the lead on Tuesday through Torsten Frings's 30th-minute free kick and although the Dutch rallied in the closing stages, the Germans appeared to have done enough to win.
Instead, one point each means the Czech Republic top Group D after their earlier 2-1 win over Latvia. "We played very well in the first half and deserved to go into the lead but I think a draw is a fair result because the Dutch did step up a gear in the second half," Germany coach Rudi Voeller said. "There was tremendous disappointment in the locker room but I think the feeling will prevail that a draw was fair. "In a way a draw is a good thing because it prevents the kind of complacency that settles in when you win clearly." Dutch coach Dick Advocaat said his players had failed to carry out his tactical instructions. "We didn't play well in the first half," he said. "My players didn't do what they were meant to do. "We had too many people in defence when they were supposed to push on into midfield and we could hardly reach our strikers." First chance
Although the Dutch created the first chance after only two minutes, Germany dominated the match with a performance better than many expected after a sequence of poor results. Germany, European champions three times, have a history of doing well in tournaments and both their approach play and defensive tenacity against the Dutch suggest they might have found form at exactly the right time. Voeller largely won the tactical battle against Advocaat, who opted to play Van Nistelrooy as a lone striker. Until he replaced ineffective midfielders Boudewijn Zenden and Edgar Davids at halftime with the far more lively Marc Overmars and Wesley Sneijder, Van Nistelrooy was a largely isolated orange beacon of Dutch hope. It might have been very different if he had connected with a delightful lob from Philip Cocu after just two minutes but the ball eluded his long reach. It was Germany who then took the iniative with Frings working tirelessly in midfield alongside man-of-the-match Michael Ballack and Bernd Schneider. With Dietmar Hamann dropping back deep as well, the Dutch made no real impact up front, allowing the Germans to break forward in numbers every time a Netherlands attack petered out. Nervous state
Both teams went into the match in a nervous state of mind following poor build-ups, with the Germans under pressure after a 5-1 defeat by Romania and a 2-0 home loss to Hungary. The Dutch, beaten 1-0 by Belgium and Ireland in their build-up, were also rattled by the usual personality clashes in their camp. They rarely played as a working unit and Germany's championship pedigree came more to the fore as the game went on. The match was played in a passionate atmosphere at the Dragao Stadium with the thousands of orange-clad Dutch fans becoming more subdued as their team was pushed back until their dramatic late equaliser. German goalkeeper and captain Kahn, celebrating his 35th birthday, had a rather more subdued celebration than seemed likely and walked off looking very glum at the end. Still, the Germans had many reasons to be happy with their performance which emphatically announced their presence in the tournament. The Dutch too were pleased with a point but their overall plays needs to improve if they are to qualify from a tough group. |
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