Holland hammer Ghana 4-1
Reuters - Tuesday 01 June 2010, 21:43
ROTTERDAM - Netherlands coach Bert van
Marwijk seems to have built a solid framework for his team who
cruised to a 4-1 World Cup warm-up win over Ghana on Tuesday.
Dirk Kuyt cut in from the right flank to open the scoring
after half-an-hour when he netted a rebound after goalkeeper
Richard Kingson blocked a shot from Robin van Persie.
The Dutch added three more in the last 20 minutes although a
defensive blunder by Joris Mathijsen allowed Asamoah Gyan to
pull a goal back five minutes after Rafael van der Vaart had
doubled the home side's lead in the 73rd minute.
GEAR: Holland's WC clothing range
Wesley Sneijder then got the best goal of the night against
a disappointing World Cup-bound Ghana side when he volleyed home
from a Van der Vaart corner from outside the area.
Striker Van Persie added a fourth from the penalty spot, his
third goal in two matches, after Kingson fouled Van der Vaart.
"We were patient against opponents who use the counter
attack although our build up lacked pace," said Van Marwijk.
"If you play with a lot of creative players who all come
onto the ball it is hard to (find space) near the goal but today
we did very well and had depth to our game."
"It was a pity we conceded a goal as we hardly gave away
anything but it was just a breakdown in communication."
With only Arjen Robben missing, with a minor hip strain, Van
Marwijk gave midfielder Ibrahim Afellay a run out and reserve
goalkeepers Michel Vorm and Sander Boschker played a half each.
The coach had named his 23-man squad for the finals on May
27, the day after Netherlands beat Mexico 2-1 with a Van Persie
double in a friendly played in Freiburg, Germany.
They host Hungary on Saturday in their final warm-up match
before travelling to South Africa, where they face Denmark on
June 14 followed by Japan and Cameroon in Group E.
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