FIFA 2010 World Cup - Oranje is the colour of winning
They may not be playing the delicious, Total Football of the seventies but they are certainly getting similar results. The Oranje triumphed over the smallest remaining country in the World Cup, Uruguay 3-2 in a match which was jam-packed with goals and could easily make the best goals of the tournament list. In a World Cup which failed to light up the world, the quarterfinals and now the semis, it seems are making up for the lack of entertainment.
Who else will be trying to bring joy back to the game but the masters of "Total Football" themselves. The Oranje have been in imperious form over the course of the tournament winning every single match; pinnacle of their streak coming against tournament favourites whom they knocked out 2-1 in the last round. They may not be the most spectacular side in the tournament as that accolade has, so far, gone to the enterprising, innovative Germans but they are certainly a successful side. A winning streak that now extends to 25 matches has instilled the men in orange with the belief that this might finally be their year. Bert Van Marwijk's men’s win against Uruguay have bought themselves a chance for World Cup glory - something that eluded their illustrious predecessors such as Johan Neeskens, Johan Cryuff, Rudi Krol and Marco Van Basten.
Despite their fantastic four in the mould of Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Rafael Van Der Vaart, one would be hard pressed to compare this team with the irrepressible, irresistible team of 1974 spearheaded by the grand master, Johan Cryuff himself. Whereas their illustrious predecessors were masters of pass and receive where each player was interchangeable across the team, Van Marwijk's men are more pragmatic who focus first on not being broken down defensively and then on letting their magical quartet conjure up acts of enchantment in the attacking third of the pitch. It seems, this most un-Dutch-like of tactics seems to be paying rich dividends.
After being underdogs against the fancied, tough Brazilians, the Netherlands came into this semi final match as the favourites against the dark horses of the tournament. Uruguay were missing the attacking (and defensive, as it has turned out) talents of Luiz Suarez while their defence had been severely weakened through suspensions and injuries. The Oranje meanwhile were missing the tough tackling Nigel de Jong and attacking right back Gregory van der Wiel. The two Dutch players were replaced by the stern looking Khalid Boulahrouz and Demy de Zeeuw.
The Netherlands came flying out of the traps playing with a fluidity that had so far been missing in their games at this World Cup. They attacked the Uruguayan defence, which despite difficulties managed to stand resolute. It seemed the first half would be a stalemate before Dutch captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst finally decided to unleash one of the best goals of the tournament. From a distance which seemed too far, he launched a rocket which thundered into Néstor Muslera’s goal net. The Oranje had taken a lead, and rightly so. The Dutch continued to create chances but it was the saviour of Uruguay, Diego Forlan, who came to the fore in the 41st minute. Beating his marker to bring the ball on his left foot, he let fly a shot which swerved fiercely to beat a badly positioned Maarten Stekelenburg. It was 1-1 and the team from South America sensed an upset.
After the break, the silver-haired Marwijk brought on Rafael van der Vaart to reunite the magical four. Letting Mark Van Bommel to protect the back four, the Dutch poured forward making it a deliciously open game with chances falling for both sides. Predictably and deservingly so though, the Dutch took the lead through their clean-sweep chasing, talisman, Wesley Sneijder who received the ball, after some neat interplay, shimmied the ball onto his right foot and rammed in a deflected shot into the net to give the Dutch the lead. Invigorated by the goal, the Dutch streamed forward and Arjen Robben got into the act by scoring via a header. Robben pointed to his head to remind everyone of the rarity with which he uses his head to score.
The goal seemed to deflate the Uruguayans as the Dutch looked to close out the game. The Netherlands survived a couple of nervy minutes, however, to advance to their first World Cup final since 1978.
With this win, the Dutch can now really dare to believe. Just one win stands between them and glory. A tougher battle might lie in wait for them in the shape of Spain or perennial enemy Germany in the final but that future battle can be postponed, because for now orange indeed is the colour of the World Cup.
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