catalyst2 | World Cup Game #53 (Reply)

As results go, I was happy to see Netherlands beat Slovakia 2-1, not because I have anything against Slovakia but because I think that the Dutch, on their day, can produce as exciting football as anyone can. As a bonus, my pick for player of the tournament, Arjen Robben, scored a beauty of a goal with a precisely hit shot in the bottom right corner of the goal, having worked his way past a couple of tackles. He didn't score again and eventually came off after about 70 minutes, looking a little sore and slow. While he was on the pitch, though, he had done what he was supposed to - tear up the Slovak left wing and pull their defence out of shape. Sadly, no other Dutch forward really stepped up and van Persie looked out of sorts in front of goal again. Eventually Sneijder scored the second goal. The Slovaks, for all their efforts, really didn't threaten the Dutch goal often and only scored from an undeserved penalty in the 90+4th minute of the game.