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Kluivert ejection mars Dutch draw
Belgium staves off Netherlands attack in scoreless duel
Posted: Wednesday September 16, 1998 05:59 PM
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Patrick Kluivert (9) of Holland is sent off by Pierluigi Collina during the match between Holland v Belgium Phil Cole/Allsport |
ST. DENIS, France (CNN/SI)
- Belgian modesty and Dutch overconfidence met up on the soccer field yet
again, and the Belgians, as usual, found a way to keep their more-talented
neighbors from running away with the contest, securing a scoreless draw in
both teams' France '98 opening match.
Belgian goalie Filip De Wilde stopped everything thrown at him and when
he was beaten, defender Eric Deflandre cleared two balls off the goal line
as the underdog Belgians survived against the highly-favored Dutch.
It left the Dutch so frustrated that striker Patrick Kluivert took it out
on defender Lorenzo Staelens, threatening him with a wagging finger before
planting his elbow in his chest. The incident promted referee Pierluigi
Collina to show Kluivert off the field in the 81st minute with a red card.
"It was a stupid thing to do," Kluivert said.
In their 120th meeting, the Dutch pounded the Belgian defense almost
throughout the match, playing in a different gear and seemingly in a
different class.
But the Red Devils stuck to age-old tactics, pulling back everyone,
surviving on 100 percent perspiration and very little inspiration, and just
watched the stadium clock run down the time.
"I surely wanted more than this," said Dutch winger Marc Overmars. "We
had great moves, but you have to be able to get it into the net."
With Dennis Bergkamp on the bench until the 66th minute with a tender
hamstring, the Dutch got plenty of attacks, but no lethal finishing.
When Bergkamp got a clear shot on goal in the 73rd minute, he froze up in
the cold and volleyed over the net.
By the end, the continuous drone of Belgian tackling and stubborn
resistance turned the Dutch into a bunch of frustrated players who had lost
inspiration along the way.
"This looks real somber to us," said Overmars.
Belgian coach Georges Leekens maintains his team still should be the
underdog.
"Now, don't think that we really are bigger than we are," he said,
stressing the second game against Mexico would be
the vital match. Mexico beat South Korea
3-1 in the first Group E game earlier Saturday.
Belgium
had beaten the favored Dutch 1-0 at the World Cup four years ago. But it
badly lost two qualifying games against them and it looked like a similar
thrashing was coming early in the match.
In the sixth minute, De Wilde failed to control a drive from Ronald de
Boer, pushed it into the path of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, but he missed an
easy tap-in from a tight angle.
The Dutch had to wait until two minutes from halftime to get another such
opportunity when Philip Cocu got to a corner kick and beat De Wilde with a
drive to the near corner. Deflandre kicked it off the goal line.
"If you play against such a well-organized team in defense, you just have
to score when you get those chances," said Dutch coach Guus Hiddink.
"They always kept seven men behind the ball," complained Dutch captain
Frank de Boer.
In the 50th minute, Hasselbaink shot from a tight angle, forcing a good
save by De Wilde, who was there again to deny Clarence Seedorf from scoring
on the rebound.
De Wilde was less brilliant five minutes later when he was late on a
cross, but Kluivert's header was pushed off the line by Deflandre.
Belgium eventually started to get a better piece of the action and a
curling shot from striker Luc Nilis just went over the net.
"It's not a big blow for us," Hiddink said. "We knew Belgium was
improving."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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