What a first day of knockout fixtures we had, right?! Brazil beating Chile in an epic encounter via the penalty shootout before James Rodriguez stole the limelight for himself with a stunning performance to take Colombia past Uruguay. Tonight’s first game saw Holland take on Mexico in Fortaleza; read on to see our thoughts on how it all went down!
Whereas yesterday’s two fixtures started off at a blistering pace, in the heat and humidity of Estadio Castelao the same feat wasn’t repeated here. Holland struggled a lot in the opening 15 minutes to get any sort of passing rhythm going as Mexico’s high pressing, narrow play made it very difficult for the Dutch midfielders to find any space apart from out on the flanks where the runners were soon stewarded out of play or off the ball. The early substitution of Nigel De Jong also meant that Holland had to readjust their game-plan early on.
This gave Mexico the initiative as they had the best of the play in the opening exchanges; so much so that they should have been 1-0 up after 17 minutes. Up until this point, the Mexicans were suffering from the same problems that hindered them in the Brazil game, making plenty of inroads forward but not having anyone in the box to deliver a final ball to. However after the quarter-hour mark, Peralta was in a position to change that. A lofted ball into the area was very well controlled by Peralta before he worked the ball across goal; it ended up at the feet of Herrera who could only drag his shot millimetres wide of the Dutch post from 10 yards.
Mexico soon had a decent penalty shout turned down as Ron Vlaar stuck a boot right in the face of Herrera, who was making a real nuisance of himself early on, but the referee didn’t deem it worthy of a penalty. Anywhere else on the pitch and it’d have definitely been a free-kick! Salcido then gave the Holland defence a brief break as he bypassed them completely with a thunderous 40-yard strike that Cillessen could only palm out for a corner. Van Persie had a rare moment of freedom from the Mexican defence as he stretched ridiculously far to control a long, high ball on the right-hand side of the box but couldn’t get his shot on target with his weaker foot.
The Dutch were just beginning to get a foothold in the game possession-wise before the action was stopped for a brief cooling break. Mexico resumed control afterwards but failed to create the same penetration that they’d previously managed. The Dutch had a really good chance from another counter-attack but the move was snuffed out controversially as Arjen Robben was debatably fouled twice when trying to control the ball in the box; probably equally as strong a penalty claim as Herrera’s one earlier in the half. The first period closed out in unfortunate circumstances for the Mexicans though as Hector Moreno, who had been very strong in defence up to this point, ended up needing to be stretchered off and replaced just before the half time whistle.
The pace of the game dropped off dramatically after the water break in the first half; thankfully it retuned by the start of the second and the Mexicans were able to capitalise instantly as they were ahead within two minutes of the restart. Building a move from the back, Rafa Marquez pinged a ball forward only for it to be cleared somewhat by his opposite number Ron Vlaar in the Dutch defence. The clearance was a poor one though as Gio Dos Santos was able to intercept the clearance, control it and drive into space about 25 yards from goal before striking a low shot into the far bottom corner of Holland’s goal and give the South Americans a 1-0 lead.
Louis Van Gaal acted quickly to try and reinvigorate the Dutch, who hadn’t looked anything like their blistering best offensively for most of this fixture, as he changed the formation and brought Memphis Depay on to liven things up. The Dutch soon went on to have a glorious chance as well as it took a stunning save from Guillermo Ochoa at point-blank range to keep out an awkwardly heighted volley from Stephen De Vrij. Sneijder went close soon afterwards as his effort from the edge of the box deflected high and looked to be looping into the top corner but fell just wide – the Dutch had definitely found another gear or two after the switch in formation from LVG.
Robben soon went very close again for the Europeans as he cut in from the right flank, hopping over a challenge from Rafael Marquez before firing at goal. His effort was, again, not good enough to beat Ochoa before the game’s second cooling break took place. Robin Van Persie came off for Holland and Chicharito came on for the Mexicans; with Holland committing so many men forward in search of a goal, the Manchester United forward’s pace in counter-attacking situations could have proved crucial in the final minutes.
The limelight was firmly on the Dutch at the end of the game though as they equalised with three minutes to go in regular time. After their tenth corner of the game, the Dutch pinged the ball around the box before Klass Jan Huntelaar headed the ball out of the box, much to the bemusement of many, only for Wesley Sneijder to pop up and smash a half-volley back towards goal; his effort beat Ochoa and Holland had their equaliser.
Things soon got even better for the Dutch as they grabbed a very dramatic late penalty courtesy of a rash Rafa Marquez foul on Arjen Robben; a rivalry that had reached fever pitch in the 94th minute after numerous clashes throughout the match. With Mexican players and fans alike on their knees around the ground, after being made to wait a long time, Klass Jan Huntelaar stepped up to score the penalty and eliminate Mexico from the competition.
The Dutch hadn’t been at their best by any means in this encounter as the Mexicans were very impressive for the majority of the match; the final 10 minutes belonged to Louis Van Gaal’s men though and the Dutch were through to the quarter-finals! Stick with us here at Fortitude to see if the Dutch can pull off more late heroics!