FIFA World Cup 2010: Spain vs. Netherlands - Spanish And Dutch Player Ratings
Here’s a look at how the Spanish and Dutch players, played respectively in the FIFA World Cup final on Sunday.
The Dutch goal keeper, Maarten Stekelenburg, had one of his better games last night. He made quite a few good saves to keep his team in the running to win the match and he made an exceptional save with his foot to deny Fabregas an intense opportunity.
The Dutch side backs, van der Wiel and van Bronckhorst had really good games, as they were constant in their tackling and going forward to provide assistance to the offense but also performed their defensive jobs quite effectively. The centre backs Heitinga and Mathijsen were sturdy in defense and kept the Spanish forwards from getting any breathing space at all.
The Dutch defensive midfielders, Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong, had their usuall high energy offensive games. Both players rushed into tackles and were effective to a good extent. Wesley Sneijder who had been sublime so far had a decent game. He produced a defense splitting pass which Robben should have finished. He didn’t find that extra edge throughout the game however, that everyone has started to expect him to have.
Robben got into good positions, but it wasn’t his day. He missed a series of good chances and failed to provide the cutting edge that he constantly produces. Dirk Kuyt was being his usual work horse self, but he spent more time in his own half then the oppositions which cut down his attacking threat quite significantly. Van Persie, didn’t enjoy his time on the pitch, he barely got the ball and didn’t even look like he was on the pitch for most of the game.
The Spanish number one Iker Casillas, had one of the best games of his life, he made spectacular saves whenever he had to, and even denied Robben in two one on one chances. The side backs, Ramos and Capdevila had pretty good games too, with their constant forward runs and support to the forwards. Ramos could have scored early on but his header was saved by a fantastic reflex action by the Dutch goalkeeper. Pique and Puyol had tremendous games, they marshaled their area and stamped their authority and hardly let any Dutch attack get past them.
Busquets and Alonso, didn’t have much impact on the game, they did well to retain possession and made a few good challenges but that was all they did. Xavi was being the genius in midfield that he usually is. He worked much harder than he normally was but was highly effective as well. Iniesta was the match winner for Spain, constantly winning free kicks and confusing the defense, the fact that he scored the winner just made this one of the best performances of his life.
The Spanish forwards, Pedro and Villa were constantly kept at bay by the Dutch, they were given no breathing space. Villa had a series of opportunities early on which he sent wide and he should have settled the game when he had the ball fall to him eight yards from the goal, but a last ditched tackle by the Dutch defense saw the ball deflect wide.
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