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Australia a little lucky with Dutch draw.
Australia can thank a much stronger defensive effort and a little luck after their match against Holland, ranked three in the world by FIFA. At the full time whistle the result stood at 1-1, however it could have been a much higher scoreline for the home side if it hasn't been for Mark Schwarzer's heroics.
In a performance that has surely secured his place in the starting eleven, Schwarzer was forced into pulling off at least six quality saves, the most memorable a full length strech as he pushed the ball around the post in the first half.
Holland dominated the start of play and it took just 9 minutes for them to score. Dennis Ooijer hit a long range effort which Schwarzer could only parry straight into the path of Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy who made no mistake when shooting into a virtual open net. Wesley Sneijder, Mark van Bommel and Van Nistelrooy all had further efforts forced away before half time as Holland went into the break by far the better team.
Sneijder however was forced off just after half time with a slight injury and moments later Giovanni van Bronckhorst brought down Australian captain Mark Viduka in the penalty area. Viduka beat Edwin Van der Sar with his shot but not the crossbar as Viduka hit the underside of the post. The ball bounced free and fell for substitute Tim Cahill who netted just three minutes after coming on (54th min).
Not long after the equiliser however Australia's Luke Wilkshire was booked not once, but twice within three minutes. The second from a clumsy challenge on Van Bronckhorst (61 min). He will be suspended for Australia's final warm-up against Leichtenstein on Wednesday.
Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben came close to snatching victory in the closing stages but Schwarzer was in top form.
Australia's physical nature saw some post-match complaints from Dutch players when talking to the press but coach Marco van Basten had no complaints. "This was a match for men. It is more enriching to play in a match like this but unfortunately three of my players are now injured. I hope it is not too serious." (fifaworldcup.com)
In other Group F news, Brazil warmed up against new Zealand, in their one and only international before the world cup, winning 4-0.
The All Whites put on a brave performance but goals from Ronaldo (43 min), Adriano (51 min), Kaka (86 min) and Juninho Pernambucano (92 min) secured the result in a relatively relaxed preperation for the world cup.
The Netherlands 1 (van Nistelrooy 9th)
Australia 1 (Cahill 54th)
Crowd: 50,000 @ De Kuip Stadion, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Brazil 4 (Ronaldo 43rd, Adriano 51st, Kaka 86th, Juninho 92nd)
New Zealand 0
Played @ Stade de Geneve, Switzerland
6 June, 2006 |
