Holland keep a cool head

Maarten Wijffels
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Wednesday 10 September 2008

A game that seemed decided at 0-2 got tight in the end.

After the final whistle the new manager could be relieved and celebrate the victory with a big hug for his assistants Phillip Cocu, Frank de Boer and ‘Cooky’ Voorn.

"It was a warm night, especially after they pulled one back," captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst said.

"We deservedly went 2-0 up and I think we deserve a big compliment as we went the distance. The first step towards the World Cup has been successful. Now we must continue on this path."

It was interesting to see how Oranje stood their ground after the Macedonian goal by Goran Pandev, 15 minutes from time. The forward converted a spot kick after a Klaas-Jan Huntelaar foul was penalized harshly.

For the silenced crowd in the City Stadium in Skopje it was the signal to loudly support their team again.

In the past it would happen that Holland lost their heads, the team now remained cool and survived.

Holland were hanging by their fingernails a few times, but four days after they upset Scotland Macedonia were unable to again surprise a bigger team.

Holland's victory was deserved, though the performance was never brilliant, except for one stretch of the game.

Holland's second goal by Rafael van der Vaart symbolized what Bert van Marwijk expects of his team.

The goal was created by a collective effort.

A few players put pressure on the Macedonian defense, and repossessed the ball that was played deep by Van Bommel immediately into the feet of Van der Vaart on the edge of the box, who finished it clinically.

It was a series of quick handling that seem to decide international football more and more often these days.

It was also a sequence Holland were unable to repeat throughout the rest of the game.

After a broiling hot day the game started in a comfortable evening temperature in the lineup that had been expected, with Robben replacing Babel as the only change to the lost game against Australia.

The plan was clear: keep the field wide when in possession and try to get through over the wings.

A second option was to get offensive midfielder Van der Vaart into play, who played in-between the lines.

But it rarely happened.

That was partially due to the condition of the pitch, visibly by the extra touches all players needed when controlling the ball.

But it was also due to the decisions of the players, who often didn't see the opportunities that were there.

The home team allowed Holland possession and sat back on a wall of five defenders hoping for a quick counter attack through the only two players with a bit of international class: forwards Naumoski en Pandev.

The duo tried to stir up the fire from the start, diving a lot and being theatrical.

They succeeded only by getting Robin van Persie the first yellow card of the game when the Arsenal striker roughly brought down Lazio Roma striker Pandev.

After 35 minutes the star of Macedonian football thought he had opened the score, but his goal was disallowed for offside.

After the break a second goal also did not get the consent of the Polish referee Gilewski.

The opener on the other side did.

After a quickly taken freekick Heitinga reacted well on a deflected Robben cross and headed home.

It was the Atletico Madrid player's sixth international goal and the start of Holland's best phase.

With Dirk Kuyt and Ibrahim Afellay replacing Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben Holland managed to secure the three points, despite Pandevs penalty.

On the other side Holland squandered two good chances to score a third goal.

Watch the highlights