Buitenlandse pers over het Nederlandse elftal #2

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Van Marwijk: Dutch will be underdogs

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk has said that he is relishing Friday's mouthwatering FIFA World Cup™ quarter-final against Brazil - and was quick to hand his side the tag of underdogs.

Van Marwijk's men head into the clash in Port Elizabeth on the back of four straight wins, including yesterday's 2-1 triumph over Slovakia. However, Brazil are the five-time world champions and looked impressive in brushing aside the challenge of Chile last night.

"I'm looking forward to this match," said Van Marwijk. "Against Brazil, perhaps we might be the underdogs for the first time in South Africa. But we are here for one reason, to get the big prize. We have to believe in it. People might have laughed at us when we said we were capable of winning the World Cup. But you have to show a real mentality, a constant focus. I think we are showing that."

The Dutch have shown plenty of flair in attack, coupled with strong defensive displays. "In all of the matches we have played so far, we have shown that we can control a match," added Van Marwijk. "We have scored seven times. We have been able to show how good we play.

"I think that our defence has done a wonderful job so far. We have conceded just two goals. (John) Heitinga, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and our goalkeeper (Maarten Stekelenburg) have done a great job. I think we are improving in every aspect but I would like to see everything converge into one match. We simply want to win and I don't think we are doing such a bad job."

The return of the Netherlands' talisman, Arjen Robben, against Slovakia was great news for Oranje fans. The Bayern Munich winger has recovered from a hamstring injury and showed in his first start of the FIFA World Cup how crucial he is for the Dutch after scoring his team's opener.

"It was important that he played for 70 minutes," said Van Marwijk. "I think he has just passed that fear factor, having recently returned from injury. It's great news to have Robben fit."

Van Marwijk sees similarities between Holland and Brazil and not just because Dunga's side have also won all of their games in the tournament en route to their meeting with Holland. "Brazil is a very mature team," he said. "They have stability. That is what they convey. I have talked about our positive form but we shouldn't get too big-headed. The Brazilians also convey this confidence, it is almost like they are invincible."

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Elia lighting the Oranje way

Always attacking, always looking to penetrate down the flanks, to torture the opposition defence with his pace and trickery, young Eljero Elia is a throwback to the good old days of Dutch football. In a side built around patience, team defending and counter-attacks, Elia stands alone as the free-thinking maverick out left. “What I want is to get myself into good positions and make danger for the team,” the Hamburg winger, 23, told FIFA.com. “I feel like I have been doing a pretty good job when I get on the pitch and I want to stay hungry and keep going.”

Born in 1987 in the small Dutch village of Voorburg, Elia’s first name is an homage to his sister’s love of American singer Al Jarreau. She suggested her little brother should be named after the jazz crooner, and ‘Eljero’ was her way of saying his name. He is one of a small handful of players in the Oranje side with roots in Suriname, the tropical former Dutch holding in South America which produced such greats as Clarence Seedorf, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard. He played with a succession of amateur sides before making a professional debut at just 17 with Ado den Haag in 2004. Three seasons later he was on the move again, to FC Twente, where he began to raise eyebrows, and in 2009, he picked up the Johan Cruyff Award for the best young player in the Lowlands.

“In Germany you don’t see many tricky wingers,” said Elia, who moved to Hamburg in the Bundesliga and picked up man of the match honours in his first two games for the club. “When they do, the fans go wild.” His first cap came in September 2009, and Elia – a favourite of current boss Bert Van Marvijk – has become an explosive and improvisational element in a Dutch team built around the sturdy play of Dirk Kuyt and Marc van Bommel and hit hard by injury to Arjen Robben. He set up the second goal in the 2-0 win over Denmark in the group stage and has been a stinging presence up the flank, used primarily as a late-game injection of pace in place of workhorse Kuyt. Three of the Netherland’s eight goals have come when the young man has been out on the pitch.

“Bah, we can play a lot better than we have,” the open and cheerful Elia told FIFA.com. It may sound like a strange assertion considering the Dutch have won their first four games, conceding only two goals in the bargain, but it is clear that the player is lamenting what some see as an absence of style in the Oranje, so often associated with panache and technical brilliance in the past. “We’ve been getting the results, but we’ve not yet shown the kind of team we are and the kind of football we can play,” he added. “We’ve been controlling all the matches, but I think we can still get a lot better and I am sure we will.”

Elia, who team-mate Wesley Sniejder describes as “a true danger-man," is hoping the side can turn on the style in their next game - against Brazil, winner of five FIFA World Cups™ and as feared an opponent as any at these finals. Also a team associated historically with style and joyful football, Dunga’s A Seleção is a sturdier prospect entirely. “When we came here to South Africa we only had one thing in our minds: to reach the Final,” Elia said, clearly unimpressed with Brazil’s reputation or current status. “We’re not worried about Brazil or any other opponent because we just need to play our game.”

But the clash with South American royalty will be a meaningful one for young Elia, as the first time he ever saw the Oranje play was against Brazil. “At the World Cup in 1994,” he enthused, “I was six and watching the game with my family on holidays in Suriname, and they were all supporting Brazil!” With the dismissive bluster of a young man, Elia’s dreams are bigger than the next match, and how refreshing it is. “We came to South Africa to become world champions,” he concluded. “And we’re going to do everything we can to make it happen.”

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History beckons for Port Elizabeth pair

There can be no underestimating the sense of expectation generated by Brazil's quarter-final tie with the Netherlands at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Friday afternoon. The prospect of two sets of talented players going head to head for a place in the semi-finals at South Africa 2010 is an enticing one to say the least. And adding an extra frisson of excitement is the rivalry that these two great footballing nations have built up in their previous three meetings in the competition.

Honours have been shared in those unforgettable encounters, with both sides claiming a win apiece and the other game ending in a draw. The story began at Germany 1974, when the team dubbed the 'Clockwork Orange', one spearheaded by the inimitable Johan Cruyff, faced the Brazilians in the final match of the second group phase. At stake was a place in the Final itself, and it was the Dutch who claimed it through unanswered goals from Johan Neeskens and Cruyff. The match proved to be a fractious affair littered with niggling fouls, one of which earned Brazil's Luis Pereira a red card.

Two decades later the two sides came face to face again in Dallas in the quarter-finals at USA 1994. This time A Seleção would have their revenge, though not without a scare or two along the way. Surging into a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Romario and Bebeto, the Brazilians were rocked by a brave Dutch fightback, with Dennis Bergkamp and Aron Winter levelling the score before Branco rifled home a trademark free-kick to give Carlos Alberto Parreira's side a memorable 3-2 win.

In a later interview with FIFA.com, coach Parreira identified that game as the turning point on Brazil's run to their fourth world crown. "We were winning 2-0 and playing well and then, all of a sudden, the Netherlands came right back," he recalled. "They had a very technical team and they never gave up either. They just kept on attacking us, which made for a fascinating game, the best of the tournament."

The two old foes crossed paths again in the semi-finals in France four years later. And it proved to be yet another absorbing encounter, with both teams putting the emphasis on attack in front of an enraptured crowd at Marseille's Stade Velodrome. Ronaldo opened the scoring for the South Americans, and with chances flowing at either end, Patrick Kluivert headed home to force extra time. No further goals ensued, and in the penalty decider that followed, Brazil keeper Claudio Taffarel took his side through to the Final by denying Phillip Cocu and then Ronald de Boer from the spot.

Champions elect?
When he gives his final team talk to his players on Friday, Brazil coach Dunga may well bring up that classic meeting in Dallas 16 years ago, one he took part in. Speaking exclusively to FIFA.com as part of our series of interviews with the USA 1994 winners, the battle-hardened former midfielder said: "That game meant a lot to our team because we showed a great deal of maturity. Branco had only just come into the side and yet he was the one who won us the game. That shows you how strong the team was."

Opinion is divided in the current side as to just how decisive tomorrow's game could be. While rampaging right-back Maicon believes the winners could well go on to lift the Trophy, team-mate Kaka is more cautious about the prospects of whoever prevails. "It's too soon to say that the Final has come early. It's a big game and a classic one too but there are a few other sides who are playing well and with every chance of taking the title."

The fact remains, however, that the winners in each of those previous meetings have gone on to the Final, an omen that ought to provide both teams with a little extra motivation on Friday afternoon, not that they are likely to need it.

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Brazil crash out to Netherlands in World Cup quarterfinals

(CNN) -- The Netherlands came from a goal down to beat 10-man Brazil 2-1 in their World Cup quarterfinal clash in Port Elizabeth on Friday.

An early goal from Robinho had put Brazil in command, but in the second half the Dutch drew level when Wesley Sneijder's cross was deflected into his own net by Felipe Melo.

Inter Milan's Sneijder then headed his team ahead in the 68th minute after Arjen Robben's corner had been cleverly flicked on by Dirk Kuyt.
A miserable afternoon for Melo was completed when he was sent off for stamping on Robben.

The Dutch will play either Uruguay or Ghana in the semifinals, but for Brazil and coach Dunga it is a bitter defeat.

The inspirational Sneijder was surprised to score the winner with a rare headed goal.
"This was my first header here, I don't think it will happen again, but it was great," he told AFP.
"The ball slipped on my bald head and went into the net, a great feeling."
The 26-year-old added: "If you can eliminate Brazil, one of the best teams in this championship the first feeling is relief, we always believed in it."

A Dutch victory had looked unlikely as the five-time World Cup champions took charge from the start.

Melo found Robinho with a precise pass through a static Dutch defense and he made no mistake as he swept his shot past Maarten Stekelenburg in the 10th minute.

Further chances fell to the Brazilians as Dani Alves set up defender Juan who blazed his volley over.

The best move of the match involving Robinho and Lus Fabiano saw Kaka draw a brilliant save from Stekelenburg, while right back Maicon shot into the side netting on the run as half-time approached.

There seemed no way back for the Dutch, but a 53rd minute aberration from Brazil keeper Julio Cesar turned the tide of the match.
He totally missed Sneijder's left-footed cross from the right and the unfortunate Melo saw it brush his body before finding its way into the net.
More poor defending allowed Sneijder to give the Dutch the lead and when Melo was deservedly shown red it was the end of the line for the South American champions.

Only a strong run and shot by Kaka which was deflected away offered them much hope and they might have fallen further behind to Dutch counter attacks.

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Dutch fightback buries Brazil
The Netherlands came from behind to break Brazilian hearts and take a huge step towards a third FIFA World Cup™ final appearance. Trailing at half-time to Robinho's early goal in Port Elizabeth, Bert van Marwijk's men drew level through Felipe Melo's own goal before Wesley Sneijder headed the winner with 22 minutes remaining. Brazil ended the game a man short after Felipe Melo's dismissal as, like in Germany four years ago, the South Americans, unbeaten since last October, saw their dream of a sixth world crown dismantled at the quarter-final stage.

For the Dutch, this was their fifth straight win at these finals and leaves them one victory short of a first Final appearance since they finished runners-up twice in the 1970s. They will travel to Tuesday's Cape Town semi-final against Uruguay or Ghana as favourites despite the suspensions of Gregory van der Wiel and Nigel de Jong. History will be on their side too, given the winners of their three previous FIFA World Cup meetings with Brazil marched on to the Final each time.

Yet it was not the Dutch, but Brazil who looked likely to prevail in the first 45 minutes. Robinho had already had one effort ruled offside when he broke the deadlock in the tenth minute. Advancing unchecked from inside his own half, Felipe Melo played a ball straight through the centre of the Dutch defence from the halfway line. Robinho, free of his marker Van der Wiel and played onside by Ooijer, was in the clear and he tucked a first-time finish beyond Maarten Stekelenburg.

The Dutch sought an immediate reply when Kuyt tested Julio Cesar with a low drive but Brazil were carrying the greater threat and, after 25 minutes, they came close to a second. From a half-cleared corner, Dani Alves, out on the right, drove in a low cross and Juan got there first only to shoot over from close range. Robinho then wriggled away from two orange shirts on the left, gave the ball to Luis Fabiano and his flick set up Kaka whose curling shot was bound for the top corner before Stekelenburg reached out his right arm to palm the ball away.

The teams' 1994 quarter-final, won by Brazil, produced five second-half goals and this game grew as a contest after the restart. Second-best in the first half, the Dutch drew level in the 53rd minute. Sneijder had already miscued an attempted volley when, following a short free-kick with Robben, the Inter midfielder swung in a cross from out on the right. Julio Cesar and Felipe Melo got in each other's way with the midfielder unwittingly flicking the ball on into the net.

Michel Bastos, booked before the break and under pressure from Robben, now made way for Gilberto Melo but Brazil's self-assurance was fading. Although Kaka guided a volley just past the post, the Dutch soon had their second goal. It came from the head of Sneijder who profited from slack marking in the six-yard box to nod home his third goal of the finals after Kuyt had flicked on Robben's corner. Brazil's prospects dimmed further with 17 minutes remaining with Felipe Melo’s red card for a stamp on Robben, now a constant nuisance to the South Americans. In a frantic finish it might have got even worse for Dunga's men but Sneijder scuffed his shot straight at Julio Cesar.