Monday, June 23, 2008 Villaflor: A Dutchman advances By Noel Villaflor Footnote
THE score was nil-nil at halftime.
The wide screen in the sports bar went blank. A gust had jerked the satellite dish out of position. No signal.
The proprietor tried to put the dish, propped near the doorstep, back into place. Half of the patrons gave up and began streaming out of the bar.
It was the break of dawn, hours after a typhoon had swept the metropolis.
Thousands of miles away in Switzerland, another storm was brewing, one that would knock the mighty Dutch, the favorites, out of Euro 2008.
Up to that point in the tournament, the thought of the Oranje failing to advance to the semis was unthinkable, especially that they would face the lowly Russians at the quarterfinals.
The Netherlands had emerged on top of the Group of Death with ease, trouncing France and Italy, both heavy favorites, via three-goal margins each.
It easily disposed of Romania 2-0 using second stringers. In all, the team scored nine goals and conceded only 1, to Italy.
Russia, on the other hand lost its first game, 4-1, to Spain, who is now the favorite, and qualified for the knockout stage the hard way.
Like many Euro 2008 viewers, I was so convinced that the Dutch would make it to the finals that I bought a “Nederland” shirt that screamed Oranje.
This team having perfected that Dutch invention called “total football” early on, it seemed Russia had a better chance of discovering cold fusion than advancing.
Let Putin weep, I told my good old pal Leo at Badgers. A voice from the table next to ours cracked: “Stalin! Stalin! Can you blame an overzealous fan?
The consensus in that room was that the Netherlands’ quarterfinal match was mere formality. As the game progressed, we admitted it was anything but.
Wave after wave of Russian attacks stymied the otherwise deadly Dutch with their unflappable 4-2-3-1 formation. How was it possible for the Russians to befuddle their foes?
Well, it takes a Dutchman to outwit a Dutchman. It takes total football to neutralize total football.
It must have been annoying for Netherlands coach Marco Von Basten to face fellow countryman Guus Hiddink, himself a master tactician. Remember he steered the South Korean squad into the World Cup 2002 semifinals and the Australian Socceroos into the last 16 of the 2006 edition.
And now at Hiddink’s command are a bunch of hungry Russians whose country hasn’t made it to the Euro semifinals in 20 years.
Hunger and tactics—what a deadly combination. Russia 3, Netherlands 1. Extra time.
Now that the Dutch are out, I’m getting orange nosebleed from trying to figure out which team has the best chance of winning the Euro.
Football is and always has been unpredictable. The Greek stunt in 2004 is a humbling reminder of that.
Forget what the pundits say. Forget historical performance. Forget analysis that won’t get us anywhere. What fans are really left with, after reason flies out the window, is belief—irrational, hardcore belief that this or that team will win.
