goede analyse over Kuijt in The Times:
Bold Dutch rewarded as France left on brink
Holland 4 France 1
(EMPICS Sport/PA Photos)
Orange aid: Van Persie meets a left-wing cross by Robben to score within four minutes of his arrival as a substitute (EMPICS Sport/PA Photos)
Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent, Berne
A goal up against France with 45 minutes to go, most coaches would look to protect the lead. A rare few would dare to go farther and Marco van Basten, coach of Holland, is one such man. Last night he was rewarded with a convincing victory that sent his team into the quarter-finals as the first group winners of Euro 2008.
The battle for top place in the group of death, far from going to the wire, is over with a match to spare. Holland cannot be caught now and, indeed, are in such a position of strength that a full reserve team could be fielded in the final match with Romania on Tuesday. For France, and Italy, the end is nigh. If Romania beat the Dutch in that final game, the World Cup finalists of two seasons ago will exit at the first stage. Depending on news from the other group game, the match in Zurich could become a meaningless fight to avoid the wooden spoon.
Holland won convincingly here because Van Basten gambled at half-time by replacing Orlando Engelaar, the defensive midfield player, with Arjen Robben, the winger, and the coach reaped a handsome reward. Robben set up one goal, with an excellent run for his fellow substitute, Robin van Persie, to score his first goal of the tournament, and scored another with a stunning finish on the left. The fourth, in injury time, for Wesley Sneijder was the pick of the night in technique but, by then, an irrelevance. The game was over long before.
In between Robben’s interventions, Thierry Henry had given France brief hope of a revival with a goal in the 70th minute, but it was nowhere near enough. Raymond Domenech’s side knew the penalty for failure to win here and it made no difference. Their fate is in the hands of a team with nothing left to play for, Holland, and another for whom winning will be everything, Romania. That adds up to one thing, and it looks as if France and Italy can begin preparing for a summer on the beach.
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If the opening fixture against Italy had been a night for the stellar talents in the Holland team, the first half here belonged to the bread-and-butter men. Edwin van der Sar, the goalkeeper, and Dirk Kuyt, the striker who has selflessly converted to an outside right for club and country, reprising his Liverpool role to great effect.
Kuyt was one of the most underrated players in the Barclays Premier League last season. Often the scapegoat when things went awry, he performed a vital and frequently thankless role in Rafael Benítez’s system, starting wide but expected to link quickly with the front man from deep, a position that is hard for defenders to monitor. It led to important goals, such as the one against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in the Champions League, and a number of nights when his contribution, though less than eye-catching, was invaluable. Equally, on occasions, his persistence went unnoticed and if Liverpool failed to win, he looked ineffectual, a goalscorer without a sniff of goal, when in truth his role was considerably more complex than that.
Played to perfection against France here, Kuyt combined the best of both worlds. His striker’s instinct secured Holland’s lead after just ten minutes, the rest of the time he worked tirelessly to stop France bringing the ball out on the left through Patrice Evra, of Manchester United. His workrate was outstanding and his team ethic impressive; he trailed Evra into Holland’s half at times, yet was quickly available to stretch the France defence if Holland broke, which they frequently did.
What Holland demonstrated last night was that they could play a variety of ways and score many ways, too. The goal that rocked France after a healthy start was a simple set-piece, impressively converted by Kuyt, even if the defence against Rafael van der Vaart’s corner was a joke.
Florent Malouda, detailed to mark Kuyt, forgot only one thing: to challenge for the ball when it arrived. Instead of making an attempt to go against his man in the air, he did that prissy wrestling thing that passes for resistance these days, grappling with him when a proper physical confrontation would have led to him putting his head where it might get hurt. Kuyt treated Malouda’s attention with the contempt it warranted and got in front of him as any instinctive goalscorer would, delivering a powerful header from close range that left Grégory Coupet, in the France goal, with no chance.
Indeed, the strength of Holland’s front players seemed to cause a constant problem for the French and in the twentieth minute, Kuyt could have put them two clear when a long ball by Giovanni van Bronckhorst was poorly dealt with by Lilian Thuram, his header almost putting the forward in again, but he shot over under pressure.
Holland’s goal had certainly taken the wind out of French sails and, despite early possession, it was not until the 22nd minute that they mounted an attack of significance. Willy Sagnol played the ball in to Sidney Govou and the Lyons forward controlled it on his chest before hitting a low shot that Van der Sar saved with his feet. The Holland goalkeeper may not be as flamboyant as some here, but he looks the best and has carried on where he left off for Manchester United, the final act of his club season being the penalty shoot-out save from Nicolas Anelka that landed the European Cup.
Now playing with more confidence, not to mention a growing desperation at their predicament, France came at Holland through the heart of midfield and three times in two minutes, Van der Sar had to be on his mettle to save, first from a shot by Malouda, then after a fantastic move involving Malouda, Franck Ribéry and Thierry Henry, which fell to Govou. Finally, Ribéry cut inside and struck a fierce shot, but Van der Sar was its equal. In the 42nd minute, Henry turned and shot from a through-ball by Claude Makelele, but the waywardness of his effort was a sign of growing France frustration.
Then, at the start of the second half, came the two events that the French will claim turned the game. In the 48th minute, a Govou shot was deflected to Henry and he let fly from close range, André Ooijer charging the ball down on its way to goal. French appeals and protests were instant and replays did show that the shot had struck Ooijer on a raised arm as he threw his body in the way, but Herbert Fandel, the German referee, was having none of it. It looked a harsh decision, even if there was no deliberate attempt to play the ball illegally by Ooijer. No flint-hearted official to blame for France’s next moment of misfortune, however, a good scoring chance for Henry, left one on one with Van der Sar only to lob over. Had they gone in, it could have been very different. Instead, the fate of France is no longer in French hands. Allez, oops.
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