Waste of Talent.
There is a certain wistfulness that accompanies any talk of Serbia and Croatia as footballing entities. Thanks to a cancerous civil war and subsequent international sanctions in the '90s, the former Yugoslavia lost the chance to showcase the glorious talents of a golden generation. In the freakishly gifted skills of Dragan Stojkovic, Dejan Savicevic, Pedrag Mijatovic, Davor Suker, Zvonimir Boban and Robert Procinecki, they possessed their best chance of winning international honours, having been top seeds for Euro '92 which they were banned from (their replacements Denmark went on to win the tournament) and would have surely challenged for major honours at USA '94.
Despite that, the various splinter nations that have sprung up in the country's wake, Croatia and Serbia (Montenegro having declard its independence on the even of the tournament) have battled on gamely in the tournaments that follow. Croatia have now qualified for their 5th Major tournament in their last 6 tries whereas Serbia (nee Serbia and Montenegro), erstwhile Yugoslavia have weathered subsequent breakups to qualify in solid, if unspectacular, style for their 3rd Major finals. Even Slovenia made it to Japorea 2002.
Whereas Croatia have managed to move on from the collapse to achieve some considerable plaudits - they finished 3rd at France '98, Suker won the golden boot - Serbia have had to start over several times now. They endured a disastrous qualifying tournament for Japorea 2002, but they rebuilt from scratch and topped a tricky qualifying group, beating out Spain, this time around. Without having the artistry and creativity of the golden generation this year's edition were functional, tight at the back and efficient in front of net. They conceded only goal in 10 qualifying matches. In Savo Milosevic they have some pedigree up front while backup beanpole Nikola Zigic (2.02m) brings some honest toil to the front of the formation. Why they persist with the enigmatic and overmatched Mateja Kezman however, is beyond me - perhaps their lack of attacking riches up front force them to turn to a very limited striker who seems to recede with every passing year.
Holland on the other hand, have been solid and consistent for the better part of the last 2 decades. They seem to be overflowing with abundantly skilled flair players, never having fielded a team that is not one of the favorites to win every tournament they take part in. Under legend Marco van Basten, they have ret ooled around another young core of technically gifted players, to have the best record in qualifying in Europe. Great things as ever are expected (as long as they avoid the the penalty shootouts). No pressure then.
In the last 2 tournaments they have played in together, Holland has beaten Serbia/Yugoslavia both times. Grudge match then ? Well, the Serbs definitely owe them some payback.
Sadly, despite all this collective history and buildup, the match itself was largely forgettable. For the first half Serbia seemed nervous and scared, lacking any fluidity or composure. Kezman reminded us all how useless he really is - he seems to have fogotten how to run as well as how to shoot, head, pass..... Holland were never really bothered but weren't a lot better themselves - however they did have Arjen Robben.
The Chelsea man was the only one on both sides who seemed to have clicked into gear, shredding through Serbia's midfield and defence seemingly at will. Dribbling and running menacingly at will, he presented an omnipresent threat to Serbia's hulking backline of Mladen Krstajlic and Goran Gavrancic. When he finally did score you expected the floodgates to open, but they never did. Serbia, after having brought on some attacking flair in Koroman, Ljuboja and Zigic, stepped up a gear, and came alive in the second half. Holland, though were rarely troubled and the game petered into an anticlimactic stalemate. One got the impression that having asserted their authority, the Orantjes may have taken a step back and moved into cruise control. Serbia, despite all their running and effort in the second half, seemed to shoot themsleves in the foot with some poor communication and positioning. What Petkovic does in training is beyond me as time and again his players ran into each other, passed to no one and missed linkups. There was no fire in the Serbian team in the first half.
Koroman and Dan Ljuboja injected some much needed speed and creative intensity into their attacking when they came on, but they seemed incapable of stringing some plays together which would lead to a goal. Igor Duljaj is an apology to centrebacks everywhere whereas their midfield, featuring the recalled Albert Nadj, was invisible. Speaking of invisible, I saw little of Phillip Cocu and van Nistelrooy the whole game.
In fact the whole game featured a black hole of a midfield, you saw orange and (some) white shirts running around but the ball bounced around as if in a pinball machine. Both teams were under par - Serbia woefully so - and you got the impression that had Holland not had Robben on fire, the game would have been a 0-0 draw.
Also, were Holland playing 4-3-2-1, with van Persie and Van nistelrooy supporting Robben ?
Well, at the end of the day, Serbia did not get embarrassed and Holland ran some younger guns out for some much needed experience. On this form though, Ivory Coast and Argentina should give both teams a really hard time. This group seemed to have been a blender at the outset, but is the cream beginning to rise ?
I had this one down as a draw, like many things, it flattered to deceive.
Holland 1 - Robben
Serbia 0
Player ratings:Despite that, the various splinter nations that have sprung up in the country's wake, Croatia and Serbia (Montenegro having declard its independence on the even of the tournament) have battled on gamely in the tournaments that follow. Croatia have now qualified for their 5th Major tournament in their last 6 tries whereas Serbia (nee Serbia and Montenegro), erstwhile Yugoslavia have weathered subsequent breakups to qualify in solid, if unspectacular, style for their 3rd Major finals. Even Slovenia made it to Japorea 2002.
Whereas Croatia have managed to move on from the collapse to achieve some considerable plaudits - they finished 3rd at France '98, Suker won the golden boot - Serbia have had to start over several times now. They endured a disastrous qualifying tournament for Japorea 2002, but they rebuilt from scratch and topped a tricky qualifying group, beating out Spain, this time around. Without having the artistry and creativity of the golden generation this year's edition were functional, tight at the back and efficient in front of net. They conceded only goal in 10 qualifying matches. In Savo Milosevic they have some pedigree up front while backup beanpole Nikola Zigic (2.02m) brings some honest toil to the front of the formation. Why they persist with the enigmatic and overmatched Mateja Kezman however, is beyond me - perhaps their lack of attacking riches up front force them to turn to a very limited striker who seems to recede with every passing year.
Holland on the other hand, have been solid and consistent for the better part of the last 2 decades. They seem to be overflowing with abundantly skilled flair players, never having fielded a team that is not one of the favorites to win every tournament they take part in. Under legend Marco van Basten, they have ret ooled around another young core of technically gifted players, to have the best record in qualifying in Europe. Great things as ever are expected (as long as they avoid the the penalty shootouts). No pressure then.
In the last 2 tournaments they have played in together, Holland has beaten Serbia/Yugoslavia both times. Grudge match then ? Well, the Serbs definitely owe them some payback.
Sadly, despite all this collective history and buildup, the match itself was largely forgettable. For the first half Serbia seemed nervous and scared, lacking any fluidity or composure. Kezman reminded us all how useless he really is - he seems to have fogotten how to run as well as how to shoot, head, pass..... Holland were never really bothered but weren't a lot better themselves - however they did have Arjen Robben.
The Chelsea man was the only one on both sides who seemed to have clicked into gear, shredding through Serbia's midfield and defence seemingly at will. Dribbling and running menacingly at will, he presented an omnipresent threat to Serbia's hulking backline of Mladen Krstajlic and Goran Gavrancic. When he finally did score you expected the floodgates to open, but they never did. Serbia, after having brought on some attacking flair in Koroman, Ljuboja and Zigic, stepped up a gear, and came alive in the second half. Holland, though were rarely troubled and the game petered into an anticlimactic stalemate. One got the impression that having asserted their authority, the Orantjes may have taken a step back and moved into cruise control. Serbia, despite all their running and effort in the second half, seemed to shoot themsleves in the foot with some poor communication and positioning. What Petkovic does in training is beyond me as time and again his players ran into each other, passed to no one and missed linkups. There was no fire in the Serbian team in the first half.
Koroman and Dan Ljuboja injected some much needed speed and creative intensity into their attacking when they came on, but they seemed incapable of stringing some plays together which would lead to a goal. Igor Duljaj is an apology to centrebacks everywhere whereas their midfield, featuring the recalled Albert Nadj, was invisible. Speaking of invisible, I saw little of Phillip Cocu and van Nistelrooy the whole game.
In fact the whole game featured a black hole of a midfield, you saw orange and (some) white shirts running around but the ball bounced around as if in a pinball machine. Both teams were under par - Serbia woefully so - and you got the impression that had Holland not had Robben on fire, the game would have been a 0-0 draw.
Also, were Holland playing 4-3-2-1, with van Persie and Van nistelrooy supporting Robben ?
Well, at the end of the day, Serbia did not get embarrassed and Holland ran some younger guns out for some much needed experience. On this form though, Ivory Coast and Argentina should give both teams a really hard time. This group seemed to have been a blender at the outset, but is the cream beginning to rise ?
I had this one down as a draw, like many things, it flattered to deceive.
Holland 1 - Robben
Serbia 0
Serbia:
Jevric - 7.5 - one of the few bright spots in a ponderous Serbian performance
Dragutinovic - 5.5 - seemed nervous, little of note
Gavrancic - 6 - overmatched and outrun most of the time
Krstaljic - 6 - slow and tentative
Duljaj - 4 - completely out of his depth
P.Djordevic - 5 - should have taken more initiative
Stankovic - 6 - did little wrong, did little right either
Nadj - 4 - invisible
N.Djordevic - 4 - same as Nadj - passenger the whole time
Kezman - 4 - rubbish, sunday league striker
Milosevic - 5 - off colour
Koroman - 6 - tried hard, lots of effort
Ljuboja - 6 - some nice dribbles on the right, too little time to make a difference
Zigic - 6 - ponderous
Defence - 5 - is this the same unit that conceded only one goal in 10 matches ?
Midfield - 4 - lacking any cohesiveness or presence
Attack - 5 - communication was noticeably absent
Holland:
Van der Sar - 6.5 - never troubled, solid
Heitinga - 6 - competent but unconvincing
Mathjisen - 6 - indifferent despite a surprise start
Ooijer - 7 - lots of running strong in the tackle
Van Bronckhorst - 6 - unspectacular and subdued
Van Bommel - 5.5 - where were you ?
Cocu - 5 - see van Bommel
Sneijder - 6.5 - good link up play with the attack
van Persie - 7 - complemented Robben perfectly, good freekick almost brought second goal
van Nistelrooy - 6 - seemed strangely off colour
Robben - 9 - top billing, one man wrecking crew
Landzaat - 5.5 - slotted in for van Bommel in every way
Bouhlarouz - 5 - did little for the 5 minutes he was on for
Dirk Kuyt - 6.5 - a few runs at the Serbian defence
Defence - 6.5 - little to do
Midfield - 6.5 - decent but under par
Attack - 8 - Robben inspired effectiveness
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