Hard-fought victory could prove costly for Holland

An injury to Real Madrid midfielder Wesley Sneijder took the gloss off a 3-0 victory for Holland against a resilient, determined, but ultimately unsuccessful Japanese side.

However, Holland would perhaps have preferred to lose the game, rather than lose key player Sneijder. With a World Cup qualifier against Scotland coming up, this Saturday evening friendly was naturally the least important of the two, and although the injury is not serious, Sneijder is not expected to be included in the starting line up for this evening’s tie.

Anyone who doubts Sneijder’s importance to his country would have had to wait only three minutes into the game for a demonstration. A 25-yard free kick, saved by Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima, was a sign of things to come, as the Netherlands dominated the first half of the game. Arsenal midfielder Robin van Persie was also in the thick of the action, as he fired over the bar twice and saw a third shot at goal caught by Kawashima shortly before half time.

Japan, although they had managed to subdue the likes of Dirk Kuyt and Arjen Robben, had little in the way of attacking opportunities themselves. Keiji Tamada, Shinji Okazaki and Makoto Hasebe all contributed, but their long range efforts were off target and of little concern to Dutch ‘keeper Michel Vorm.

Goalless at half time, Holland’s frustrations showed; yellow cards were shown to both Sneijder and Nigel de Jong, and two substitutions were made – Piet Velthuizen replaced Vorm, and winger Eljero Elia came on for Robben. Japan began the second half brightly, with efforts from Yuko Nagamoto and Shunsuke Nakamura coming close, but it wasn’t long before Holland capitalized on their dominance. Elia was a key part of the opening goal – his right footed shot was saved by Kawashima, and from the resulting corner, the ball was played into de Jong. He played the ball in to the Hamburg star, whose pass was controlled and smashed into the top left corner by van Persie in the 69th minute.

It wasn’t long before the Netherlands had doubled their advantage. Sneijder, who was stretchered off 12 minutes before full time and replaced by Rafael van der Vaart, intercepted a pass from substitute Demy de Zeeuw on the right wing, and unleashed a fierce right-footer from just outside the penalty area.

There was now no way back for Japan who, although plucky, just could not compete with the resounding quality of the Dutch squad. Indeed, they could even afford to leave star striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar on the bench until just after an hour. Japanese coach Takeshi Okada probably wished they had, as AC Milan’s newest addition also got himself on the scoresheet 3 minutes from time. Again, it was Elia who provided the cross, Huntelaar beating Yuji Nakazawa to the ball to fire past Kawashima into the bottom right hand corner.

Holland are firm favourites to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, as they currently lead Group 9 by 11 points, and a victory against Scotland tonight would all but ensure they will be competing in South Africa next year.