very interesting game, Spirit: strategically. The oranjes (=Dutch) hide their true force. If you want to win, you have to do six games and only 3 or 4 days in between matches. So you don't start full power. And the first three matches are in a group, so it is not necessary to win them all. This starts in match #4, that you HAVE to win to continue. So to speed down is logical, is n't it? Their best part is the offense. The best goalgetters play in Spain, England and Germany. And there they are best. So their system to play is 4-3-3:
4 defenders, 3 for the middle -the "transfer-section", 3 for the goals. Yesterday they started 4-2-3-1. Only 1 for the goals! And 6 for the defense! Aha, so they wanted to "let THEM play". Ok, that thing ended 0:1 for us and they had to do something to correct that: for the last 20 minutes they switched to 4-3-3 and 10 min later it was 1:1. Ours were not bad, so they didn't get another one.
Ok, maybe they book Amsterdam a little bit later.

EDIT: almost forgot: it was NOT their best front lineup they showed!
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Micha on 2004-06-16 05:31 ]</font>
Addendum: the important actors
the keeper
Germanys strength. Famous players: Turek, Trautmann, Mayer, Schumacher, Stein, Kahn, Lehmann.
A long tradition. Like Russia, with the most famous of them all: Lew Jaschin.
They can win a match, like Stein did against Platini and(!) Boniek, long time ago.
They were desperate... whatever came, he got it. The best "bomb killer" ever. (HSV, hehe)
A good keeper is king of the square called the 16 meter.
Whenever the "enemy comes" he has to organize the defense to prevent a goal.
So he is not counted in for the system analysis. His place is fixed anyway.
The only one allowed to use his hands inside the 16 meter.
The ability to catch the ball safely and to order precise and fast is his job.
If you have a "fly catcher" there, you can make as many goals as you can,
you'll always get one more.
The tragedy for many countries in the past...
Even France had this problem for a long time.
They had a dream transport layer in the 80th (Platini, Tigana, Giresse, Ghenghini)
- but their keeper...
And the transport layer "does" the game. The fight is always in the middle.
And the winner there usually wins.
Except you have a fly catcher behind.
Or no killer or "bomber" in front.
A killer is what you could see yesterday: "invisible" player, 1 lousy chance, one goal more.
Most famous: Müller, Di Stefano, Van Basten.
A bomber is what Zidane showed: distance about 20 m, speed about 100km/h, no chance for any keeper - upper left/right corners preferred.
Most famous: Pele, Platini, Boniek.
Maradona could do both.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Micha on 2004-06-16 07:10 ]</font>