Daves On Soccer

This round of World Cup qualifying has certainly seen its share of important away wins and Holland managed to bag one as well. FSC's satellite problems continued, but I did manage to catch one of the quicker opening goals I've every seen in a qualifier. Holland's first attack led to a corner which saw Cocu lose his marker and nod the Dutch ahead. Faced with this immediate disadvantage, the Romanians were made to labor their way back into the match. And with the Dutch players seemingly bigger, stronger and faster than their counterparts, the home team never had much of a chance.

The Romanians did put forth a game effort in the second half to try to pull the game back, but the Dutch did a good job of absorbing pressure and van der Sar bailed his defenders out on the few occassions when the hosts found an opening. In the last twenty minutes, the Romanians seemed to tire and the Dutch took full advantage and caught their hosts out on several counterattacks, one of which led to the second goal, thanks to some nifty passing combined with numerical advantage.

The only blemish for Holland on the night was the injury to Robben on his first game back after six weeks out with a broken bone in his foot. While I'm sure Chelsea fans are concerned, I can't see anyone catching them at this point.