Slovakia hit the field boldly and played without fear, giving the Nederlanders a few things to think about… in the first minutes, at least.
Ultimately, and not surprisingly, Slovakia was out-matched. Holland is one of 2 nations to reach the Quarterfinals not only undefeated, but with 4 straight wins (Argentina being the other). Their sterling record is due, at least in part, to Van Marwijk’s astute management. Unlike the majority of his peers, the Dutch coach had his best squad identified well before the tournament began. With Arjen Robben’s return to the starting line-up after a hamstring injury, Van Marwijk was able to field a squad wearing the numbers 1 – 11 on their backs; his ideal formation with his first-choice players in their preferred positions.
Robben marked his start with a cracking goal just 18 minutes in. While many players have yet to come to terms with the quirks of the Jabulani ball, Wesley Sneijder had no trouble providing a spot-on, 40-yard cross-field pass to put Robben in the clear. The winger proceeded to cut inside 2 Slovakian defenders, then powered the ball through a narrow gap between a 3rd defender, keeper Jan Mucha and Mucha’s near-post.
Robben’s dazzling agility and energy (lightning acceleration, snake-like movement, clever footwork, explosive strikes) may have made it harder to notice the rock-solid midfield contribution of de Jong and van Bommel, who dispossessed Slovakia every time they got the ball and nipped attacks in the proverbial bud before they even got started. Kuyt’s unselfish runs, effortless ball control and whacking shots-on-goal were highly instrumental in keeping Slovakia on the back foot. Orange fans who worried about the integrity of their goal now that veteran #1 Edwin van der Saar has retired from international play were surely assuaged by Stekelenburg’s exceptional goal-keeping.
Holland put the game to bed in the 84th minute. Beating Mucha to the ball, Kuyt cut it back to Sneijder who finished with aplomb. It looked as if Slovakia would take nothing from the game but the tattered pride of having got so far and seen their last match out bravely, when Stekelenburg brought down Robert Vittek in the box. Taking the very last touch of the game from the penalty spot, the hero of Slovakia’s game against Italy at once converted and got himself into the record books as his nation’s top international goal scorer.
“Dark horse” isn’t the right term for a team that was strong coming into the competition and has consistently excelled. While all eyes have been trained on the favorites — Germany and Argentina, Spain and Brazil — a bright orange thoroughbred has been keeping pace, and may well outstrip them all.