Holland FIFA Ranked Nr.1

Yes, the Dutch football team is number 1 in the world. Ole, ole ole ole. Well, the circumstances led to this fortunate position. The previous world number 1 Spain lost in a friendly to Italy while the match England-Holland was canceled due to the unrest in London. I'm not exactly sure how the FIFA does its ranking system and there are different points to be won in friendly matches, qualifiers and the World or European championship itself. I've also read that when Spain wins its qualifier against Liechtenstein next month, a sure thing, it will regain the number one spot regardless if the Netherlands wins its matches against San Marino and Finland. So that part of the ranking system seems a bit iffy. No matter. Being number one in the world is a record for my country and everyone is happy about, only even if it lasts a month.

Update 24-8-11. It's official;

Bummer 0-1

Holland - Spain 0-1
116' 0-1 Iniesta
Disappointed with the fact that Holland lost its third world cup final but in all fairness the best team won. From the start Spain was the best footballing team and Holland could only counter with making a lot of fouls. Think there was a record amount of yellow cards. Spain got more chances in regular time but Arjen Robben should have scored in the second half, but the goalkeeper also made a terrific save. Extra time the same matchplay continued. Spain was the better team, got more chances and Holland made more fouls which resulted in the red card for Heitinga. Before Spain scored there were some (minor) mistakes by the referee but Iniesta's goal itself was correct. Congratulations Spain.

Paul The Psychic Octopus

Meet Paul the psychic octopus. Paul gets to choose between two boxes with a snack in them, there's a flag on each box and the one he picks supposedly wins the match. The funny thing is; Paul had everything right so far. He correctly predicted every match Germany played including wins over Argentina and England but also losses against Serbia and Spain last night. The last prediction upset some Germans fans and there's talk about turning Paul into seafood. Bastards. I'm ok with Paul. He can always come to a Dutch aquarium. Guess who Paul predicted will win the final?

P.S. Just found out that the picture is most likely photoshopped. Oh well. It's the thought that counts.

Viva Holanda 3-2

Holland - Uruguay 3-2
18' 1-0 Van Bronckhorst
41' 1-1 Forlan
70' 2-1 Sneijder
73' 3-1 Robben
92' 3-2 Pereira
Woohoo. What a game. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Great goal from van Bronckhorst, maybe the most beautiful goal of the championship. Forlan equalized out of nowhere just before halftime. Second half Holland knocked in goals by Sneijder and Robben who are so dangerous as attacking players. Pereira made me a nervous wreck by scoring in extra time. Phew. I remember as a kid watching the finals of 1974 and 1978 although the latter is more vivid to me, and when they lost to Argentina in extra time I went to my room and cried. But Argentina is out, so maybe we can give the Germans some payback for 1974. Sunday - the Final.

Unbelievable 2-1

Holland - Brazil 2-1
10' 0-1 Robinho
53' 1-1 Melo (og)
68' 2-1 Sneijder
One word: unbelievable. First half Brazil played such good football that I thought it was game over. With a little luck they would have led 2, 3-0 and that's what I expected in the second half. The match completely reversed, one mistake by Ceasar and one header by Sneijder and Holland was in front. Add the red card for Melo and Brazil's collapse was completely. Didn't expect that before hand.

Oh Yeah 2-1

Holland - Slovakia
18' 1-0 Robben
84' 2-0 Sneijder
94' 2-1 Vittek (pen)
Well, they keep on winning and that's certainly the way to go. Game-wise there's still room for improvement. Fantastic goal by Arjen Robben in the first half but after that moment Holland seemed to lean back as they have done before. Slovakia got a couple of good chances to equalize but the Dutch goalkeeper Stekelenburg excelled. Then in the 84th minute a great action by Dirk Kuyt which Sneijder only had to tip in. In the very last minute of play Slovakia got a questionable penalty but by then it was already game-over. So, they are in the quarter finals which is great but against a team like Brazil they have to play better then they did before.

Yep 2-1

Holland - Cameroon 2-1
36' 1-0 Van Persie
65' 1-1 Eto'o (pen)
83' 2-1 Huntelaar
Well, Holland was already through to the last 16 and Cameroon was already out so this match was more about prestige than about anything else. Holland still doesn't play it's best football which can be troublesome because they still have to face a world class team and how will they perform then? Van Persie made a good goal in the first half but after that Holland's game dropped considerably. Cameroon equalized with a penalty by Eto'o. Then Robben came in and showed his class by a shot on goal that hit the post and the bounce was picked up by Huntelaar. Most commentators agree that Holland's game still has to be kicked up a notch or two if they want to make to the final.

Yay 1-0

Holland- Japan 1-0
53' 1-0 Sneijder
Happy that Holland won but it wasn't a great match. Japan played well in the defense which resulted in very few chances in the first half. Second half Holland played a bit better and had the good fortune that a hard shot from Wesley Sneijder wasn't handled well by the Japanese goalkeeper. Dutch substitute Affelay had 2 good chances to double the score but this time the keeper did his job. Although Dutch fans like to see the team play beautiful football I think there's more of a realization these days that in the end the result is all that matters. In the past Holland often played sparkling football in the beginning only to have a bad match later on and go out of the tournament. Hopefully we'll see the Dutch team improving every match. ;)

Orange Babes Arrested

Incredible. The FIFA had 36 women arrested after the football game Holland vs Denmark. They were wearing dresses from a Dutch beer brewer. Reason for the arrest was the fact that the FIFA has Budweiser as the official (beer) sponsor. FIFA officials even considered letting the women remove their dresses but soon realized that would create even more publicity. Funny thing is, there isn't even a name brand on the dresses and there are also no regulations regarding clothing of the fans. In my opinion the FIFA (officials) made a total ass of themselves and showed once more how just how commercially oriented they are up to the point of insanity.

Yeah 2-0

Holland-Denmark 2-0
46' 1-0 Simon Poulson (og)
85' 2-0 Dirk Kuyt
Holland started a bit nervous in their first match of the World Championships. Denmark had a decent game plan and that entailed not letting Holland play their favorite football. Those two things added up, making the first half relatively uneventful. One minute in the second half all that changed. A shot from Van Persie was miraculously deflected in the Danish own goal - severely upsetting the Danish game plan. With spaces opening up (since Denmark had to get the equalizer) Holland started playing better and getting chances. Five minutes before the end Dirk Kuyt had an easy tap in after Elia hit the post. The latter was very impressive as a substitute. 3 points for Holland, but a long way to go.