Shame

Today, I went through the pain of watching Holland versus Portugal. It was painful to watch due to endless dirty play, cautions and red cards, and the fact that the Dutch brought shame upon themselves because they did not redeem the mistakes they made: Cocu who passed when he was in the penalty zone rather than shooting came closest to redemption when he hit the crossbar (see what happens when you shoot, the ball actually goes near the net). Robben said he could play much better when he played against Serbia. Where was he today? I know he was double teamed, but come on! Kuyt passed rather than shot and then when his chance came he kicked the ball right into the goalie rather than going around the goalie or shooting up high. Van Persie and later Van der Vaart were the only players that seemed to get the urgency of this game : elimination. Delivery has been a common problem among the Dutch this round (I talked about the heart-attacks they caused me by not scoring insurance goals, previously). They have very few finishers. The good news is that their finishers are young and I look forward to great things from van Persie, especially. I just hope that he stays out of Holland until the next World Cup so no one can convince him it is better to pass rather than shoot when you are in the penalty zone. Portugal deserved to win despite all their dirty work and if it weren't for Van der Sar the score would be even worse. Hopefully for Holland someone will be able to fill his shoes for the next World Cup (if they qualify). Until redemption it's sackcloth and ashes and lots of hard work.