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Netherlands (2) 0-0 (4) Argentina – Three Thoughts

By on July 9, 2014

Neither Argentina or the Netherlands clearly wanted to waste their chance at spot. In a tight tactical World Cup Semifinal both sides hardly wanted to risk a chance of losing, hence the goalless one-hundred1and-twenty minutes of play, yet the surprising factor is that in doing so they gave away the chance to solidly control their respective fates by taking the match into penalties. In the end it was the Dutch who paid the price.

Yet it wasn’t as if the reason behind the goalless match tonight was that each attack was not up to par, but that the respective defenses played brilliant matches. Each side naturalized each other’s focal points in attack – Arjen Robben was forced deeper and deeper into the middle in search of good service, leaving Argentina in a better position to defend. And as the Dutch attack down the wings, swinging the back across the defense until a run down the line opens up, Robben wasn’t there to make the runs down the line.

Meanwhile, when Lionel Messi dropped his Dutch man-marker did a brilliant job of forcing him to play backwards instead of flicking it on – when Messi did find an overlapping run of a winger Argentina looked most dangerous. As the Dutch played with a back three, Blind and Kuyt can be sucked up the pitch, sometimes to make overlapping runs or press, instead of letting Robben or Georginio occupy the wings, this means that when they do get sucked up and Messi drops as a false No9, then Lavezzi or Perez will make those diagonal runs in behind the three Dutch center-backs down the wings.

In the end, the Dutch ended up with more possession, but that was only because Argentina did a good job of keeping their defense tight – when the Netherlands couldn’t find a pass down the line they would swing it back across to the other side and try to find a through ball down the other wing. If Argentina can do the same against Germany, the outcome is likely to be the same – the Germans use their No6 in Bastian Schweinstieger to switch the ball through their defense before attempting to find a ball into their No9 or No10s in the midfield.

When the match went to penalties, the team with the less pressure and hype on their shoulders won. The Dutch had already made all three of their subs, so Tim Krul was not able to come on as their penalty specialist in goal. Thus, all eyes were on Cillessen to see if he would be up to par with Krul’s match saving performance against Costa Rica on penalties. Under the pressure, Cillessen only one dove the right way.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.