Netherlands won their last group stage match against an unfancied Romania side last night at the Stade de Suisse, Berne. A second-string Dutch side defeated Romania 2-0 in the match. The match was not important for Netherlands because they already reached the quarter final winning the first two matches of the group. So, there was enough logic behind Coach Marco Fan Basten’s decision to rest a number of regular players ahead of the quarter final match. However, the absence of the regular players was not felt in Netherlands’s performance in the match, though it is true that the Dutch side did not look as formidable as they were against Italy and France in the previous two matches.
Both sides created some chances throughout the match, but Netherlands was better in both halves. However, the first half remained goalless thanks to poor execution of the strikers of both sides. However, nine minutes into the second half, Ajax striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored for the Dutch to take a lead in the match. Having conceded the goal and knowing that Italy was leading in the other match, Romania went for all out attack, but to be honest, they could not create many chances as the Dutch defense. Rather, Netherlands created some good chances from counter attack. Then in the penultimate minute of the match Netherlands got their second goal thanks to Robin van Persie, as his superb execution confirmed the Dutch victory with three minutes off the game.
To be honest, the match was not that much eventful as it was expected and the match lacked pace that was necessary to make it an entertaining match. However, I think, Dutch Coach should be happy with what his seemingly reserve squad achieved from the match. This match proved how deep the Netherlands squad is in the tournament. With this defeat, Romania has been eliminated from the tournament, after showing some impressive football against France and Italy in the previous two matches. On the other hand, Netherlands seems to be strong enough to win another European championship after 20 years.
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