Holland
Proud to be Dutch
11/07/10 22:43 Filed in: World Cup
Yes, I know the Oranje lost today to Spain. That
doesn't make me any less proud to be Dutch!
The Netherlands entered its World Cup final game against Spain today with a good game plan and it very nearly worked. Since Spain plays such beautiful football, with impressive passing and ball control skills, the Dutch knew they had to find some way to force the issue. So they played aggressive soccer, putting pressure on the ball at every turn, using a physical game to try to disrupt and, yes, intimidate the opposition.
They knew they were going to give up a lot of free kicks and take a lot of yellow cards but they felt it would be worth it. If the Spanish players started thinking too much about where the next hard tackle was going to come from, rather than focusing moving the ball crisply and efficiently, the Dutch would have most of the job done. It wasn't a pretty strategy but it very nearly worked.
The difference between a win and a loss for the Oranje might just have been the toe of the Spanish goalkeeper, as he barely managed to keep Robben's breakaway shot out of the goal. If Holland scores there, Spain would have had to open the game up a bit and the Dutch might have been able to put one or two more away for the win.
Oh well. Early on in the tournament, I said I hoped Holland would play well and move into the latter stages in the tournament as a tribute to my Mom. They did me proud and I'm sure she's pleased too. The Oranje played hard and played well and we can't ask much more than that.
The Netherlands entered its World Cup final game against Spain today with a good game plan and it very nearly worked. Since Spain plays such beautiful football, with impressive passing and ball control skills, the Dutch knew they had to find some way to force the issue. So they played aggressive soccer, putting pressure on the ball at every turn, using a physical game to try to disrupt and, yes, intimidate the opposition.
They knew they were going to give up a lot of free kicks and take a lot of yellow cards but they felt it would be worth it. If the Spanish players started thinking too much about where the next hard tackle was going to come from, rather than focusing moving the ball crisply and efficiently, the Dutch would have most of the job done. It wasn't a pretty strategy but it very nearly worked.
The difference between a win and a loss for the Oranje might just have been the toe of the Spanish goalkeeper, as he barely managed to keep Robben's breakaway shot out of the goal. If Holland scores there, Spain would have had to open the game up a bit and the Dutch might have been able to put one or two more away for the win.
Oh well. Early on in the tournament, I said I hoped Holland would play well and move into the latter stages in the tournament as a tribute to my Mom. They did me proud and I'm sure she's pleased too. The Oranje played hard and played well and we can't ask much more than that.
Odds and Sods
Heat wave in NB. Hot, humid, air-conditioner-less
province. UGH. Couldn't get much done other than
surviving and keeping as cool as possible.
I did manage to take another look at the synopsis for my novel, The Silent Goodbye, and do a little polishing. Hoorah for me.
I also spent an afternoon in a local pub, with a huge, sweaty crowd, cheering on the brave Dutch soccer team in the World Cup semi-final against Uruguay. Fun times. After they surprised Brazil, it was good to see the Netherlands didn't have a let down against lower-ranked Uruguay. A little scary at the end but still great. Hup Holland! Beat Spain!
And on the reading front, I have finished the 1980s in my journey through Dick Francis. The latter part of that decade produced some great novels, including the matched pair involving Kit Fielding as the protagonist (Break In and Bolt) as well as another of my personal favourites, Hot Money, and the only one of Francis' novels set in Canada, The Edge. The decade ends with Straight, the intriguing story of a jump jockey who finds himself thrust into the shoes of his recently deceased older brother as he tries to resolve the estate and the mysteries it hides.
Break In, Hot Money and Straight are all interesting because they involve Francis exploring family relationships in a new way: Break In deals with a pair of fraternal twins, still sorting out a long-standing feud with another family; in Hot Money, the outcast son of a prolific multi-millionaire takes on the task of figuring out which one of the patriarch's three living ex-wives and numerous off-spring is trying to kill the old man; and Straight offers a soulful exploration of what it means to be brothers.
Tomorrow (Sunday) is golfing, then cheering on the Oranje in the final against Spain. Hup Holland.
I did manage to take another look at the synopsis for my novel, The Silent Goodbye, and do a little polishing. Hoorah for me.
I also spent an afternoon in a local pub, with a huge, sweaty crowd, cheering on the brave Dutch soccer team in the World Cup semi-final against Uruguay. Fun times. After they surprised Brazil, it was good to see the Netherlands didn't have a let down against lower-ranked Uruguay. A little scary at the end but still great. Hup Holland! Beat Spain!
And on the reading front, I have finished the 1980s in my journey through Dick Francis. The latter part of that decade produced some great novels, including the matched pair involving Kit Fielding as the protagonist (Break In and Bolt) as well as another of my personal favourites, Hot Money, and the only one of Francis' novels set in Canada, The Edge. The decade ends with Straight, the intriguing story of a jump jockey who finds himself thrust into the shoes of his recently deceased older brother as he tries to resolve the estate and the mysteries it hides.
Break In, Hot Money and Straight are all interesting because they involve Francis exploring family relationships in a new way: Break In deals with a pair of fraternal twins, still sorting out a long-standing feud with another family; in Hot Money, the outcast son of a prolific multi-millionaire takes on the task of figuring out which one of the patriarch's three living ex-wives and numerous off-spring is trying to kill the old man; and Straight offers a soulful exploration of what it means to be brothers.
Tomorrow (Sunday) is golfing, then cheering on the Oranje in the final against Spain. Hup Holland.