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Dutch turn it up
Posted: Friday June 16, 2000 08:04 PM
It took the Dutch almost an hour to come to life against the feisty Danes. Three goals later, they looked much more like second-favorites for the title. Having shaken off their lethargy, this might just be the start of something big for the co-hosts. They began brightly enough in their opening game against the Czech Republic, only to fade badly and escape with the most fortuitous of 1-nil wins, courtesy of a disputed last-minute penalty. In the first half against Denmark in Rotterdam, scene of the final on July 2, the Dutch again failed to deliver -- suggesting their appearance in the title showdown in the same stadium was a forlorn hope. But in the 57th minute, Dennis Bergkamp threatened the Danish goal, Peter Schmeichel saved at his feet and Patrick Kluivert followed up to send Holland on its way -- their first goal in open play at Euro 2000. Two more followed. The crowd was in raptures, a vibrant mass of orange cheering the Dutch to the quarterfinals. Actually the players weren't in orange. They were playing in blue -- the kind of blue, in fact, you might just see make up some of the colors on the Barcelona strip.
And what a Barca influence there was -- Kluivert first of all. Then Barcelona's Boudewijn Zenden crossed for another of the Catalan clan, Ronald de Boer, to make it 2-nil. Michael Reiziger -- from Barcelona, where else? -- made a splendid run to set up Zenden for the third. It was a miserable time for those same guys on the club scene this season. The Dutch dominance of a fiercely Catalan club -- made possible by Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal before he left under a cloud after a trophy-less campaign -- didn't go down well with the Barcelona fans, to put it mildly. But in Holland they're heroes. Well, after beating the Danes they are. Next up: fellow quarterfinalists France. At stake: who finishes top in Group D. The Dutch hope they can, which would allow them to stay in Holland for the quarters. They'll need to beat France to do so. A draw would be enough to see the World champions finish first on goals scored.
It might be just as well that Holland needs to go for victory. Having picked up some momentum, they can't afford to lose it and fall back into the lethargic state evident in the last 60 minutes of the Czech game and first 57 minutes of the Danish encounter.
Phil Jones is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International. Jones is part of the World Sport crew that is in the Netherlands and Belgium covering Euro 2000.
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