World Cup Group C - Dutch Do Just Enough (Holland 2 - Ivory Coast 1)

So much for this group being the toughest in the tournament. Everything was settled in two games.

After the first 25 minutes of the game, I honestly thought the Dutch would run away in this game. Ivory Coast started tentatively had quite honestly weren't that good until they were 2-0 down. Then it looked like someone turned a switch. They started to press the Dutch defence and were rewarded for their persistence in the 38th minute with a sweet sole goal by Bakari Kone. The end of the first half was brilliantly entertaining with both sides genuinely going for the goal. The pace was pulsating and it was the kind of half you'd dread to end.

In the second half, Ivory Coast piled on the attacks but rarely threatened Van der Sar. In truth the Elephants played like typical Africans. They movement forward was laboured and too indivdual for my liking. There were many times they had the opportunity to push the ball into good positions with passes but the players on the ball just had to hold on to it too long, losing the impetus.

However they continued to press forward and pressured the Dutch defence throughout the entire second half, especially the dying minutes of game. But sadly, they never did look like scoring despite their good individual play. Moreover their corners and freekicks were wasteful. If you have a big, intimidating guy like Drogba in the centre, the last thing you want is to waste your corner kicks.

To be fair to the Dutch, they too played their part in the entertainment of the game. There was never a point, especially in the dying minutes of the game, to play for time. They were always looking to score that third goal. It was a game played in the right spirit. Unfortunately one of these two good sides had to go home.

In the end, goals from Van Persie and Ruud were enough to see the Dutch through to the second round, despite a spirited display by the Elephants.

I personally don't like the result. It means that another group would have meaningless games to play in the final games of the group stages. Let's hope the rest of the games produce some results that wouldn't result in the same scenerio. At the very least it would produce games where teams would have something to play for.