Despite second-half rally, Serbia-Montenegro comes up short
12/06/2006
Serbia-Montenegro's first foray into the 2006 World Cup ended in disappointment. A one-man show by Chelsea goalscorer Arjen Robben gave the Netherlands an early lead and they held on to win the match 1-0.
By Georgi Mitev-Shantek for Southeast European Times in Belgrade-- 12/06/06
 Dutch forward Arjen Robben (2nd from right) celebrates with teammates at the end of Sunday's (11 June) match. [Getty Images] |
It took only 17 minutes for the Netherlands to score a winning a goal and make a successful first step Sunday (11 June) through the "Group of Death" at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. At the packed Zentralstadion in Leipzig, 43,000 spectators had the chance to witness the superlative play by a single man -- Arjen Robben. The Chelsea striker got a long-range ball from Robin van Persie, ran 20 metres and slid the ball under Serbia-Montenegro goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevric.
The Serbia-Montenegro defence was caught too far up the pitch. It was clear that the "Fantastic Four" are not so fantastic without Nemanja Vidic, who had been suspended for one match.
Two minutes before Robben scored, Serbia-Montenegro's "Spanish" forwards -- Savo Milosevic (Osasuna) and Majteja Kezman (Atletico Madrid) ran into each other for a ball that Predrag Djordjevic cut inside, right in front of the Orange side's goalie, Van der Saar. It was Serbia-Montenegro's first decent chance, and for the remainder of the period they got few others.
In the second half, though, the Dutch took their feet off the gas, while Serbia-Montenegro substitute Ognjen Koroman breathed new life into his side's play. Running from midfield, he forced his teammates to be more agile and made some good shots. Coach Ilija Petkovic made several tactical changes, and Igor Duljaj successfully pacified Robben. Another substitute, 2.02m-tall Nikola Zigic replaced Savo Milosevic, and tried to ambush the Netherlands immediately after the restart. Koroman and Zigic tested Van der Saar a couple times.
Pressing for an equaliser, Serbia-Montenegro left plenty of space at the other end for the Dutch, but there was no one to take advantage of it. Ruud van Nistelroij was practically invisible the whole match, like his counterpart Mateja Kezman on the Serbia-Montenegro side. Beside a few Robben runs, the only real second-half danger came from Van Persie's free kick. By the end, the Serbia-Montenegro players had regained their confidence and had the Dutch subdued, but they lacked the one thing they needed – support for the lone striker, Zigic. Despite the improved effort, the Blues remained a goal short.
A win is a win, and the Dutch deservedly picked up three points. But coach Marco van Basten may be happier with the points than the performance. Petkovic and his squad, meanwhile, have five days to tune up for an even bigger challenge – Argentina.
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