International Friendly – Half Time review: Netherlands versus Turkey
The match kicked off brightly at the Amsterdam arena in Holland as it was Turkey who made the home side do the early running. The Turks were on the offensive in 11th minute of the match as Burak Yilmaz was found
in space in front of the Dutch goal by his midfielders. However, Burak’s finesse shot was brilliantly saved by the Dutch goalkeeper who was also on hand to save his team some early blushes. The first half of the encounter was played at a ferocious pace between
the Dutch who made it till the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and Turkey, a team which didn’t even qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
In the 13th minute, Rafael Van Der Vaart played a finely timed pass over the top for his team’s strikers but the Turkish defence was alive to clear the ball away. Van Der Vaart started the match for the Dutch due
to his brilliant run of form for Tottenham Hotspurs, an English Premier League side that he joined in the summer transfer window for eight million pounds from the Spanish giants, Real Madrid.
Holland had two free kicks in quick succession in the 18th and the 20th minutes respectively. The first one was taken by Rafael Van Der Vaart, the Hotspurs player took the set piece but his
delivery was left wanting as it was way off target. The second free kick was taken by the FIFA World player of the year nominee, Wesley Sneijder who couldn’t make the set piece count as well as the score line remained at nil all.
Netherlands controlled the possession early on and the Turks had to resort to anti-football tactics to deal with the quick movement of Huntelaar and Sneijder up front. Whenever Turkey got the ball they tried to find N. Sahin or their winger,
Hamit Altintop with their passes but mostly Dutch had both the skilful players marked.
In the 30th minute of the match, Ibrahim Afellay was on hand for the Dutch to get his shot off on target for his national team side. The young striker who will join Barcelona in the January transfer window as a
deal has been agreed between Ajax and Barcelona already, missed the target by just a difference of inches as the Turks breathed a sigh of relief.
In the 34th minute, Turkey were awarded their first corner kick of the match. Nuri Sahin took the kick for the Eurasian side but the set piece was expertly cleared by Joris Mathijsen. Mathijsen was Holland’s best
defender in the first half of football at the Amsterdam arena; the central defender continued his international form for Holland from the World Cup in South Africa, where he was one of the standout defensive players of the tournament.
In the 44th minute, just before the half time whistle blew, Ibrahim Afellay had another glorious chance for his national team side to take the lead. The young striker was yet again wasteful with his finishing as
his shot which was taken from inside the Turkish penalty area was wide of the mark.
The referee soon blew his whistle calling the break as both the teams went into the dressing rooms at the half time break with the scores level at nil all at the Amsterdam arena in Holland.
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